Ladybug and Cat Negro: The Misadventures of Angela and Miguel
by agdoll95
Summary: Set a hundred years after Ladybug and Chat Noir in Paris, now we meet the next chosen ones in New York city. Angela is the daughter of a drug cartel leader and Miguel is the son of the chief of police. Both of which have no desire to live up to their parent's expectations, but to follow their own paths in life until by hand of fate, they are chosen as the new Ladybug and Cat Negro
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Angela sat quietly with her brother in the car behind the meeting place for their father's latest client. She could feel her heart pounding as she her lament for what she was being for to be a part of grew. Because tonight, not only was she being asked to deliver illegal drugs, but as of late, they had been finding leaks in their territory and after delivering the drugs, they were to hunt down and take out the leak. She could almost breathe with relief that they had no idea that it was her, but she felt equally guilty that some innocent person could die because she was secretly delivering information about the trades and the clients to the police thanks to her friend, Derek.

Angela gripped the strap of the duffle bag tighter as the anticipation of when their client would be arriving grew faster and faster.

"Are we sure he's coming?" she asked trying to hide the fact that her voice was possibly shaking.

"If not that just means we will have more of a chance to spot this leak that has been crippling our line of clients." Her brother Josh, who went by the nickname Jet within their father's cartel, answered fiddling with his gun.

"Josh would you please put that away." Angela pleaded.

"What did you call me?" he glared at her.

"I called you…"

"You just called me Jet, now didn't you?" he said making his point by pointing the gun at her.

"Fine, Jet would you please put that away, you're making me nervous."

"Actually, I think someone needs a little lesson." He said handing it to her.

"No thank you." She said trying to push it away.

"Take it, I will not ask again." He growled at her.

With shaking hands, she took the gun from his and held it in hers. "Now put the barrel in your mouth and pull the trigger." He ordered her.

"What no! I will not do that!" she shouted trying to toss the gun back to him.

"You will do it or I will." He glared at her forcing the gun into her hand.

Knowing there was no way she could get out of this, and right now feeling like her only escape from all of this was to die, she slowly took the gun and did as her brother told her. She put the barrel in her mouth and with even shakier fingers, pulled the trigger.

Nothing happened, just a click as the trigger pulled, but no shot, no bang and no bullet. Her heart raced as she realized that the gun had been empty all along. She looked over at her brother and saw him holding the bullets and laughing at her.

"Let that serve as a warning to watch your step Scarlet." He laughed taking the gun back from her.

"Yes, Jet." Angela answered trying to calm down.

She and her brother waited another few minutes before they saw an old man with a cane walking through the alley way where they were waiting.

"Looks like we have ourselves a trespasser." Josh said cocking his gun.

"Jo, Jet no, he's just an old man." Angela begged grabbing his arm. "He's not doing anything wrong."

"Those who stroll into Angeles Diablos territory uninvited must be punished." He sneered.

Josh pulled free of her grip and strolled out of the car toward the old man. Angela scrambled to undo her seat belt and get out of the car to catch up with him to stop him from hurting the old man.

"What are you doing on our streets you leech?" he brother sneered pointing his gun at the old man.

"Please young man, I'm just trying to get home." The old man pleaded.

"And I'm supposed to believe you?" Josh growled knocking the old man to the ground. "Those you wonder into our streets without an invitation get lead out." He sneered pointing the gun at the old man.

Angela ran as fast as she could and pushed her brother's arm up as the trigger was pulled. "Jet, he's just an old man, he hasn't done anything wrong!" She yelled as her brother turned on her and pinned her back against the wall next to her, pointing the gun at her head.

"If you were not my sister, I would put a bullet in your head for that." He said pointing the gun at her head. "If I were you, I would learn my place Scarlet and stay there." He warned her walking back to the car.

Angela turned back to the old man and helped him back on his feet, handing him his cane.

"Thank you young miss." He sighed with relief.

"I'm sorry, my brother is a bit a trigger happy moron." She said handing him his bag and noticed that in the fall he had been scratched really bad by the pavement. "Here, this'll help with the pain and keep it from getting infected." She said reaching into her purse and handing the old man some medicine she carried with her.

"Very much appreciated miss." The old man said with a smile.

"Angela, my name's Angela." She said shaking his hand. "If I were you, I would stay away from this part of town, it gets really dangerous around here after dark."

As if on cue, Angela heard her brother rev the car's engine telling her they had to go. "I've gotta go, but I'll pray that you get home safely." She said turning to leave.

"You know Dad's not going to be happy with you for this." Josh warned her.

"We've already got the police breathing down our necks with all the drug trafficking we're doing, we don't need them to add flat out cold blooded murder to the charges." She argued as they drove back to their base of operations.

Neither she nor her brother said a word the rest of the drive back. When they got to the warehouse, Brock, one of their father's thugs, was waiting for them.

"Your father's waiting to see you two." He said taking the duffle bag from Angela.

Angela could feel her heart pounding with anxiety as she and Josh walked in through to the back where their father sat waiting for them with his back to the them.

"It is my understanding that there were some problems at the trade off this evening." Their father, Isaac Monroe, stated without turning to face them.

"Yes, our client didn't show up for the trade and we had a trespasser wander into our alley way." Josh answered almost animatronic.

"And was the trespasser dealt with?"

"No, Scarlet interfered and let him go." Josh answered glaring at Angela.

"Why would you do that Scarlet?" Isaac asked turning to face her.

"Because he was just an old man, a harmless civilian. He wasn't doing anything wrong." She defended. "We already have the police on us about drug dealing, we don't need to add murder to the list."

Isaac looked at her with furious eyes, but still managed to maintain a calm composure. "There is a reason our client failed to come tonight." Isaac said as if moving on. "It seems the police got to him before he could get to us."

"What!" Josh exclaimed in outrage.

"Yes, it would seem that this leak is in deeper than we thought." Isaac said looking out the window.

"Any ideas of who it might be?" Angela asked nervously.

"My guess is that it is someone that the police have sent in undercover as one of us and they are delivering information of our trades and our clients."

Angela had to keep from heaving a sigh of relief. "So what are we going to do?" she asked nervous to find out.

"Josh and I will figure this out, you are going to go to your room and stay there for the night." Isaac ordered her. "You've done enough damage tonight."

"But Dad…"

"I am your father and you will obey me, do you understand?" he yelled at her.

"Yes sir." Angela answered feeling defeated. She turned and followed Brock to the car that was waiting for them.

The entire drive home, Angela wondered what had happened to the man her father used to be. Ever since their mother had been killed in a shootout between the Chupacabras and the police, he hadn't been the same. They all used to be so close, but now, she felt lucky to wake up each morning and even see them.

When they got to the house, Brock escorted her inside and upstairs to her room. As she walked inside, she gave Brock a glance and then said good night as he shut the door behind her. Angela sighed with sadness and defeat. What more could she do to keep trying to bring her family back together. She was already risking her life and Derek's by secretly passing the trade information for him to give to the police. And as it crossed her mind, she remembered that she had to call him and ask if the police got what they were looking for.

She sat down by her desk and pulled out her phone to call her best friend. As it rang, Angela became more anxious the longer it rang with him answering. Finally, she heard his voice on the other side.

"What up Angel?" she heard him greet with his usual laid back California accent.

"Not now Derek, I just need to know if the police got there in time." She said cutting to the chase.

"You know it girl. They were stoked to get their guy tonight, although they're still pretty bummed that they're not much closer to finding your old man." He informed her. "You sure, you don't just want to come clean and tell them that you're the one passing the info to me to pass to them? They could totally use your help in bringing this whole low tide cartel down bra."

"No way, it's way too risky, if I went to the police, my Dad would do heaven only knows what to make sure that the police don't even come close to catching him. If he finds out that I've been passing information to you to give to the police, I could die, you could die, many other people could die because of what we're doing." Angela answered him in a panic. "Derek I am begging you as a friend, for the love of all that is good in this world you cannot tell the police that the one working as a mole in the Angeles Diablos is me."

"Chill 'lax bra, I got your back." Derek assured her.

"Great, so if we can move passed that, I just need some minor notes from class today. You think you can help me with that?"

"No prob." He answered.

For the next few minutes, Angela wrote down some notes she missed from her courses that day as her father had called her out of class to come help them with the trade for that evening. After getting what she was missing, she thanked her friend, hung up and got started on her homework for the next day. By the time she was done and got a look at her clock, she saw that it was already late getting close to midnight. She quickly got a shower and ready for bed.

As she laid down in bed trying to go to sleep, she found her thoughts wandering back to that old man she saved earlier that evening and hoping that he made it home alright. She was happy the police got the guy that was supposed to meet her and Josh for the trade, but she would've been happier if the man she saved hadn't shown up because now, if Josh and her father suspected that he was the leak, they would try to find him again and silence him. She only hoped that where ever he lived, it was safely out of their turf.

At last her eyes started to get heavy and she let herself drift off to sleep. When she opened her eyes again it was starting to get light out. She looked out her window and saw that it was almost sunrise.

"Now would be the best time to go for my run." She yawned to herself.

She pulled herself out of her pajamas and into her running clothes. Quietly, she slipped out her bedroom window and down the fire escape into the yard and over the fence. Having successfully escaped her house, she took off on a slow jog down the street. With hundred meters, she found her troubles becoming something farther and farther from the front of her mind as her body worked to wake up and keep with her pace. After jogging and running for almost an hour, she ran home and slipped back into her room trying to remain undetected.

Angela then went to take a shower and get ready to head out to her classes that day. As she was pulling her bright curly auburn red hair up in her usual 'I dream of genie' up due, she heard a knock at her door.

"Ma'am, your father wants to talk to you." She heard Brock say at her door.

"Tell him I'll be down soon." She answered not opening the door.

After getting her hair and makeup done, she ran down the stairs to her father's office down stairs. Her heart started to pound as she wondered what he could possibly want to see her for this time. When she reached his office door, she took a deep breath and opened the door.

"You wanted to see me?" she asked with a shaking voice.

"You will be going with Brock for another trade tonight." Her father told her without even looking at her.

"But I have to…"

"If you value your education at that community college, you will do as I say." He threatened her.

Angela's words caught and choked in her throat. "Yes sir." Was all she could get out.

"Good, now you may go." He said dismissing her.

As she left the office and headed for the front door, she could feel herself begin to cry. She fought to hold back the tears and left the house to head for her classes. As she started down the street for the bus that would bring her to the campus of her college classes, she found herself wondering if her Dad even really cared about her and what she really wanted for herself.

'He can't expect me to be a part of this forever.' She thought as she put her ear buds in and started her digital music player. 'Sooner or later he's going to have to let me go.'

As the bus pulled up, she caught a glimpse of the other side of the street and could've sworn she saw the old man from last night. But when she looked again he was gone.

'It's probably nothing. Just my mind trying to get over last night.' She reasoned with herself.

The entire bus ride to the campus, Angela reviewed her notes and looked over her homework again. But she could not get it out of her head that her father was threatening to take away his support for her to go to college. Here she was, 20 almost 21 years old and her father was threatening her like she was a little kid that needed to be controlled. She could feel herself grit her teeth at the fact that even after graduating high school, she still had no freedom to become what she wanted to be, anything but a drug trafficker.

Finally the bus pulled up to the campus and let her and everybody else off. As Angela headed for her first class for the day, she found Derek talking with his girlfriend, Abbey.

"Hey, what's up bra?" Derek greeted her as she walked up to them.

"Not much." Angela answered not feeling very spirited.

"Are you doing okay?" Abbey in her thick black glasses and basic black pig tails asked as she got a closer look at Angela.

"I'm fine, it was just a long night, that's all." Angela answered rubbing her eyes, realizing how red they must have looked from trying to hold back the tears. "I was up late last night studying and finishing my homework. I had a long night with my family last night."

"Well, hope you weren't hoping to catch a break today, we have a test in Calculus today." Abbey informed her.

"Augh, I completely forgot." Angela groaned mentally slapping herself. "I wasn't able to study for it last night, I'm doomed." She said ready to collapse right there with despair.

"Look, it's going to be okay Ange, just do your best and you'll be fine." Derek said supporting her. "We better book before we're late."

The three friends ran quickly for their first class and quickly took their seats. As Angela took her seat by Abbey near the front, she looked at the row just across from her and saw a guy she had never seen before.

"Who's that?" she quietly asked Abbey.

"That's a new guy from Mexico City. They say he moved here a few days ago but I did my thing and found he's actually the son of the police sheriff around here." Abbey explained.

"First of all, why would you do that, and second what's his story?"

"Well, you know how I am, I need to know the facts when it comes to new people. And apparently his momma was an illegal immigrant and tricked big daddy into having a baby, but that didn't stop the law from sending her and her baby back to Mexico."

"Wow, new guy have a name?" Angela asked.

"Miguel Dorado, at least that's the name that was on his birth certificate, his baby daddy is Sheriff Willis."

"Girl, how you are able to dig deep enough to find this stuff out, it amazes me that you haven't been arrested for hacking on a federal offense level." Angela said with a laughing smile.

The two girls laughed as the professor entered the room and the class began. Angela soon found she couldn't stop looking at the new guy and couldn't help but feel that she had seen him somewhere before. And the name, where had she heard that name?


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Miguel Dorado ran quickly down the street trying to catch a cab before it drove off. Just as the door was about to shut and take off, he flagged it down and was about to climb in when he saw an old man on the ground weakly reaching for his cane and everybody was walking right past him. While he normally would have kept walking himself, he couldn't stand the thought of someone in need and knowing he could've done something and didn't. He stepped away from the cab and helped the old man up and guided him to the cab door.

"Thank you young man." The old man sighed as Miguel helped him in.

"Hey, it was no big deal." Miguel said as he let the cab drive off with the old man in the back seat.

Miguel then found a bus map and headed for the nearest bus stop. He had to catch this bus, it was the last one for the night and he had to get to his father's place before he noticed that he was not home. He should have been keeping better track of time when he went out that night. Then again, his father had told him that he wasn't supposed to be out that night because he had classes in the morning. But hey, he was a grown man, he was old enough to take care of himself and to make his own decisions. When he snuck out of his room to meet up with his friends to go out to the party that night, he thought he would stay a few hours and maybe pick up a date, but he lost track of time and now was scrambling to be home before his old man.

Out of breath, he made it just as the bus was about to take off and leaped aboard as the doors were about to close. He sat near the front and watched as the street lights seemed to dance as they passed by. New York was so beautiful at night. If only his Mom could've seen this. He was pretty upset for all the trouble he caused her and now she had sent him to stay with his father whom he had never even met here in New York city.

'Maybe having a father figure for once will help him shape up.' Is what she had said as they had made the arrangements.

Miguel at first expected his father to be some street bum, but when he found out his father was someone like Sheriff Willis, he started to think that maybe his mother was right. But still, he wasn't up for the idea of his father trying to mold him into someone he didn't want to be. Just because he shared chromosomes with the sheriff didn't determine who or what he was supposed to be or how he was to behave. He was 21 years old and did not need people telling him how to live his life.

The rest of the bus ride home was spent with him trying to figure out what he would say to Sheriff Willis in case he didn't make it home in time. By the time they pulled up to the stop close to his father's house, he still had no excuse for him. But he was grateful he wouldn't need it when he saw that his car wasn't in the drive way which meant that he hadn't come home yet. Which also meant that he had time to cover up his tracks. He raced inside and quickly got showered and was in his room opening his notes from earlier that day in class and was pretending to study as his father pulled into the drive way. Miguel listened as his old man came in and up the stairs to check on him.  
When Miguel saw him, he looked exhausted and not in a good mood, but what else was new with him, but at least, as far as he knew, Miguel had obeyed for once. That's what Miguel wanted him to believe. Without a word, Sheriff Willis nodded with an exhausted grin and then headed down the hall for his room. Miguel sighed with relief and then headed for bed. He laid in bed for a while and thought of listening to his music for a while. But he could feel his eyes getting heavy and just let himself drift off to sleep. He woke up again when he heard his phone going off and was shocked to see that it was his mother. He had completely forgotten he had promised to call her that evening. He accepted the call and heard his mother's worried voice on the other end of the line.

"Hola Momma." He answered.

"My son, are you okay, I didn't hear from you, I thought something had happened."

"Mom, I'm fine. I promise." Miguel answered trying to calm her nerves.

"Oh thank goodness. So, what's it like in New York City? Are you and your father getting along?"

"For the most part yeah. We butt heads every now and again, but other than that, he's pretty cool." Miguel answered.

"Yes, he can a bit of a stubborn one, but when you get to know him a little better, you'll see why I loved him."

"Maybe." Miguel said running his fingers through his shaggy, thick black hair.

"I just wanted to check on you and make sure you were doing alright, but I know it's late over there and you're probably tired. I just want to say I love you and I miss you."

"I love you too Mom." Miguel answered hanging up the phone.

He laid down and let himself drift off again. The next time he woke up, the sky was barely even lighting up. He got up and put on some running clothes and went for a morning run around the block. Along the way he ran into one of his new friends from the college his father had arranged for him to attend while he was staying with him.

"Hey man, you have a fun time last night?" he asked as they ran together down the street.

"Yeah, wish I could've stayed longer, but you know what it's like being the son of a cop." He sighed as they slowed for a cool down pace.

"Yeah, it can get pretty rough some times, but hey, those ladies last night, they were so totally into you."

"I guess so." Miguel grinned remembering how close he had come several times to getting a date, only for the girls to lose interest when he told them that he was from Mexico and he was here visiting his sheriff father. "Shame none of them seemed interested in going out with a former band singer."

"So you were really in a band back home?"

"Yeah, but the band broke up after we had a falling out with our record company. We lost motivation I guess when we couldn't get our voices out there."

"What was the name?"

"El Malos Buenos Chicos. The Bad Good Boys." Miguel answered as they came up to his house. "I gotta go, I have to catch the bus to class soon."

"See ya man."

"See ya." Miguel went in and headed for the shower.

After he had gotten washed off and dressed, he quickly grabbed a thing of toast out of the kitchen and raced out to catch the bus. As he rode to the campus, he ate and quickly reviewed his notes for Calculous test later that day. When the bus arrived, he met up with his friend Martin at the door.

"Hey, did someone have a fun time last night? Any dates coming up?" Martin said nudging him with his elbow.

"Almost, but apparently some of the fun ones at those kinds of parties are only after one thing that I used ot have but not so much any more."

"And what would that be?"

"Either attention or something I am really not willing to give just yet." Miguel laughed awkwardly.

"Not to worry dude, you'll find your soul mate one of these days."

"I don't doubt it." Miguel said as they made their way in.

As they were making their way to their first class, Miguel heard a scream and turned around to see a girl with bleach blonde hair and too much make up running for him.

"Miguel Dorado, I can't believe it's you!" she squealed grabbing his hand and shaking it pretty hard.

"Yeah, that would be me." Miguel said trying to get his hand back.

"I'm Jezebel Corrine, I am such a huge fan of your music." She said latching on to his arm.

"Looks like you've got a fan." Martin laughed.

'More like a groupie.' Miguel thought as he tried to pry himself free. "Great to meet you, but can I have my arm back? I need to get to class."

"Oh don't worry we'll be in the same class together so you don't have to worry about being alone." Jezebel said still holding onto him. "Just follow me."

'Great.' He groaned as she led him into the class room.

Martin came to his rescue when he pulled Jezebel off him and sat beside him at their pews. "I'd stay away from her if I were you." He warned.

"Why?" Miguel asked.

"You didn't hear it from me, but word is that her mom is like a big time company owner her in the Big Apple and you cross her path, you won't see the light of day again."

"What company?"

"Corrine Corps. They are big time investors in just about everything around here. Nothing takes off without their okay."

"Sounds pretty big."

"Yeah, so if Jezebel claims she's with you, and you're with her, I'd just go with it because you do not what to make this girl or her momma angry." Martin explained as the professor came in.

Miguel started writing when he felt someone was watching him. For a moment, he thought it would be that Jezebel girl, but when he looked up, he saw a girl across from where he was sitting looking at him as if she were trying to figure him out. For a second he caught himself staring at her. Sure she was pretty with that bright curly auburn red hair and bright blue eyes, but he already had a stalker on him, he didn't need to turn into one or need another one himself. Still, he couldn't stop stealing glances at her every now and again. Who was she?


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Angela's eyes met with the new guy Miguel's for a moment, and in that moment, she swore she could feel her heart flutter. Sure he was cute with that shaggy black hair and those emerald eyes, but she didn't know him so why was she having such a reaction? And where had she seen him before? Half way through class, Angela heard her name called and realized the professor was asking her to answer the question. Terrified, she wished she had been paying attention, and scrambled to find an answer.

"Uhh, I, I don't know professor." She stammered.

"Then maybe next time you'll pay attention." The professor barked.

The professor moved on and Angela felt her face going red with embarrassment. She stole another glance at Miguel and swore she felt someone else watching her. She looked back and saw Jezebel shooting her the skunk eyes. For the rest of class, Angela did as best she could to remain focused on the professor and on her paper, but she couldn't stop her mind from wandering back to Miguel. When the lesson was finally over, she quickly grabbed her bag and her notes and tried to get out of the room as quick as she could. Out the door, she rested against the wall to catch her breath and gather her thoughts.

'Alright,' she thought pulling out her phone and pulling up the internet. "Let's see, search well known Miguel's from Mexico City." She ordered the app.

What came up were several entries for the name Miguel. Scrolling through the images, she found Miguel's under the music category and then realized why he was so familiar to her. He was the lead singer to her favorite band out of Mexico, El Malos Buenos Chicos, The Bad Good Boys. But the band broke up a few years back, she was devastated.

"No way." She breathed.

"Yes way." She heard someone say next to her. She turned and saw Jezebel hovering over her shoulder. "Now you listen to me Angela Martinez, that boy is mine, so you better back off or I can make your life so miserable you won't be able to show your face in public ever again."

"How could you make my life any more miserable than it already is?" Angela sassed back. "I already share a class with you."

"Keep up with that attitude and you'll find out real soon. Just remember, Miguel is mine, so hands off hooker." Jezebel growled at her as she started off.

Angela felt a red hot flag flare up inside as she had to bite her tongue to keep from saying things that would not be very lady like. She took a deep breath to cool down and then she started off to find her next class. Out of nowhere she heard yelling coming just down the hall. She got a closer look and saw two guys from her previous class going at it like badgers. It Danny Jones and Sam Williams.

Sam in a fight came as no surprise to her, he had always been a hot and so quick to lose his temper, but Danny was always the mild mannered one. What had happened that made these two want to go after each other? She tried to get in there to break it up but the professors beat her to it. Danny was taken to one room while Sam was taken to the principal's office. Angela sighed with relief that the fight was ended before someone got hurt. Straightening her mind, she headed for the library for her English and Literary Arts class. Taking her seat near the back, she pulled out her essay and hoped that with what little time she had to work on it, it would be good enough to at least allow her to pass.

Suddenly the fire alarms started to go off and everyone started to panic. Angela grabbed her bag and dashed for the doors leading off of the campus and ran for her house. As soon as she mad eit home, she ran up to her room and locked the door and switched on her t.v. for the news.

"…and we have just receive some breaking news from New York community college that a freak fire accident occurred barely even a few minutes ago, although these are not your typical fire incidents. Witnesses claim to have seen a man covered in flames setting and controlling the fires as if he were in command. We bring now live to our eyes in the sky over the scene."

Angela's eyes grew wide as she saw what looked like a huge fire in the shape of a man as he made his way over the city, setting fires everywhere he went.

"Oh, why did it have to go like this?" she groaned in fear. She looked over at her night stand and saw a small black box. "What's this and what's it doing here?" she thought out loud.

She opened it and saw a pair of earrings which then started to glow and in a blinding instant, she closed her eyes and then opened them to see a small red thing floating in front of her.

"Ahh, a bug! An, an, alien! A, a bug alien!" she shouted freaking out.

"It's okay, no need to be scared." The little red creature spoke.

"Ahhhh! Bug thing talks!" Angela screamed as she tried climbing up her wall to get away from the thing.

"It's okay Angela, I'm a friend."

"Ahhh!" Angela yelled hiding under her covers.

"Okay, if that makes you feel safer."

"What are you and how do you know my name?" Angela asked peeking out.

"I'm a kwami and my name is Tikki. I'm here because you're the chosen one Angela, you're the only one who can stop Inferno."

"What! No way! There is no way anyone can expect me to stop that thing!" Angela said looking at the news report again.

"Not alone, you see, I can give you powers to stop him. Trust me Angela, you and your partner are the only ones who can save the city."

Angela's mind was racing and her heart pounding out of her chest as Tikki explained what it is she had to do and how to use her powers.

"Okay, so just break the thing where the whatever you called it is hiding and everything will go back to normal?" Angela asked putting on the earrings.

"An akuma, which you must then capture." Tikki answered.

"And what were those powers again?"

"Lucky Charm, it's your super power."

"Oh Tikki this all too much too fast. I'm not going to be able to do this. To be honest, I'm pretty sure all I'm going to do is get someone hurt."

"You'll great Angela, trust yourself. Just say 'Spots On'." Tikki instructed.

"Spots on?" Angela asked.

Suddenly, Tikki disappeared and Angela found herself enveloped in a bright flash that quickly subsided. When she looked in her mirror, she saw that wasn't wearing her normal clothes anymore. In their place was a red turtleneck unitard with black spots all over it and a sheer short skirt around her waist, red with black spots as well. On her arms were long red with black spot gloves that reached her just up to her upper arms. Around her ponytail were some red ribbons that hung just below the length of her hair. On her face was a red mask with black spots, just like the rest of her costume.

"Uh Tikki, this great but I really want my old clothes back." Angela called not seeing Tikki anywhere.

"…we're taking you live to our footage of the monster known as Inferno who has made his stop in Central Park. It seems Inferno has set his sights on a target and is willing to destroy everything in his path to get to it."

Angela looked at the footage and say Abbey following close to Inferno. "Oh no, Abbey, what could you possibly be thinking?" Angela gasped as she realized that her friend needed her. "Oh I don't know if I can do this, but I have to save Abbey." She said to herself as she crawled out her window and saw that she had a yo-yo tied around her waist.

"Okay, so apparently I have these new lucky powers and this magic unbreakable yo-yo." She said giving it a swing.

As it wrapped around the smoke stacks, it pulled her off her feet and over the buildings below. Startled, she screamed as she flew over the roof tops and then crashed into something or rather, someone.

"Well hola senorita, nice of you to drop in." the boy she had accidently crashed into said as he helped her up.

"Uh, hey." She said taking his hand getting on her feet.

"You must be my new partner. I'm Cat Negro." He said shooting her a grin.

"I'm, I'm…" she tried to say but her yo-yo crashed into Cat Negro's head. "Sorry, I'm so sorry."

"Not to worry Sorry Girl. I'm new at this too." He said as he extended his staff and leapt on to the roof of the building following Inferno.

"Where are you going?" she called after him.

"To save the city, right?"

"Oh, okay, trust yourself." Angela said as she gave her yo-yo another swing and followed Cat Negro.

She and her new partner raced to catch up with Inferno. They finally caught sight of him in the middle of Central Park.

"Let's blow out this candle." Cat Negro said as he started to race for the opponent.

"Wait." Angela said to Cat Negro grabbing his tail before he could take off. "Don't you see, he's made entirely out of fire. We can't just rush in there, we'll be roasted alive."

"You gotta plan then?" Cat Negro asked.

"Well," Angela said remembering her chemistry class the day before. "If there's three things a fire needs to burn, it's heat, fuel and oxygen. If we can remove even just one of them, we can bring him down."

"Sounds pretty legit, how do we do that?"

"Uh, I'm not sure." Angela said feeling stumped.

"Then how about we use our powers." Cat Negro suggested. "Cataclysm!" he summoned his powers. "Apparently my powers allow me to destroy whatever I touch."

"Well, that's just great." Angela said feeling annoyed.

Cat Negro reached over about to touch a flag pole. "No wait!" Angela yelled grabbing his arm to stop him. "You only get one shot to use your powers and then you'll have five minutes before you change back." Angela explained in a cold sweat.

"Oh, sorry."

"Didn't your kwami tell you anything?"

"Guess I was too excited about my new life."

"Great, anyway, I think I have an idea but I still need a little help." She said pulling out her yo-yo. "Lucky Charm!" she summoned.

What came to her was a blanket. "A blanket, what am I supposed to do with this?"

"Isn't hot enough around already?" Cat Negro laughed.

Angela looked around and figured out what she had to do. She spotted a hose, a hydrant and then got another look at Cat Negro's cataclysm.

"I have a plan, you see that fire hydrant?" she said pointing at it.

"Yeah."

"When I give you the signal, use your powers to open it." She said grabbing the hose and wrapping herself in a blanket.

With a leap, she flew through straight to the heart of Inferno. "You're crazy!" she heard Cat Negro yell after her.

As she was about to pass through, she yelled for Cat Negro to open the hydrant. With a swipe of his hand, the hydrant burst open and water burst through the hose into the heart of the fire. Angela landed dosed but otherwise alright. As Inferno started to simmer down, she got a look at what it was the akmua must have been hiding in. A pair of brass knuckles. She made another jump and grabbed the brass knuckles and threw them on the ground shattering them. Out it came a dark purple butterfly. She watched fly off and sighed with relief when she saw Inferno disappear, but was surprised to see in his place was Sam.

"You were awesome Ms. Bug Lady." Cat Negro said putting hand on her shoulder as his ring started to beep.

"You better go, our identities must remain a secret." Angela said brushing him off.

"Got it, let's do this again some time." Cat Negro said racing off.

"Not too soon I hope." Angela said as she turned to Sam. "Hey are you alright?"

"I'm fine, I don't know what happened to me."

"It's going to be okay, but you should probably get home, I'm sure your family's really worried about you." She said sweetly as Sam looked at her.

"Thanks."

"OMG! You were so cool out there!" Angela heard as she turned around and saw that Abbey had been videoing her the whole time. "I have so many questions I want to ask you."

Angela's earrings started to beep. "Sorry, no time for an exclusive. I have to go."

"Wait, what's your name miss?" Abbey asked holding up her camera phone.

"Uh, Ladybug, the name's Ladybug." Angela said swinging her yo-yo and flying off for her house.

When she got here, she barely even had a minute before she switched back. She made into her room in time before she switched back to her normal self. Tikki reappeared falling into her hands.

"See, didn't I tell you you could do it." Tikki said smiling p at her.

"Well, I still can't believe I did it, but I'm just glad that me and Cat Negro were able to stop Inferno." Angela answered. "Are you okay, you look tired."

"I just need some food." Tikki answered.

"What do eat?"

"Anything, as long as it's food."

"I could sneak you some cookies out of the kitchen." Angela offered.

"That would be great."

"Okay, just stay here, I'll be right back." Angela said sneaking into the kitchen passed Brock and a few of her father's thugs.

She managed to grab a few chocolate chip cookies and quietly brought them up to her room. "Hope you like chocolate chip."

"Those are perfect." Tikki said swishing over. Angela laid them on her nightstand and let Tikki eat as she switched on her tv to listen to the news for the evening.

"…And New York is still in awe at our new guardian angels. Thanks to the ammature footage captured by a brave by stander, we now know the identities of these amazing individuals. Ladybug and Cat Negro. Mayor Harrison will now address us about these heros of the Big Apple."

"Speaking on behalf of a grateful city, I only have two words to offer for our defenders of justice, Thank you."

"Wow, to be thanked by the mayor himself, it's just wow." Angela breathed watching the Mayor Harrison continuing his address to her and Cat Negro.

"This just in, we are receiving reports of people suddenly being transformed into burning pillars of fire. These fire those hot do not seem to be making any movement or progression. Concerned citizens are wondering what will happen to these people? For now anyone's guess is as good as the next." The reporters called in.

"Tikki, what's going on?" Angela asked concerned.

"Did you capture the akmua?"

"What does that have to do with this?" Angela asked.

"An akmua can multiple and if Sam's emotions become negative again, he'll transform back into Inferno and be able to control these flaming people as his army." Tikki explained. "That's why the akuma must be captured and then purified."

"So then, all this is happening because of me, it's all my fault." Angela cried. "See, I told you Tikki, I'm not made for this, all I do is hurt people."

"Calm down Angela, it was your first time. You'll do better next time."

"No don't you understand, I'm not meant to be a super hero. If I keep this up someone is really going to get hurt, you, me or Cat Negro and many other innocent people for that matter. Cat Negro will do better off without me, I'm done."

"Angela you can't. Cat Negro can't capture the akumas without you, you're the only one who can capture and purify the akumas." Tikki explained.

"If Cat Negro can't then find another Ladybug, I told you I'm made to be Ladybug. I'm sorry Tikki." She said taking her earrings off.

When she opened her eyes, Tikki was gone. "Tikki?"

Angela placed the earrings in the black box and hid the box in her dresser. "I'm sorry Tikki, truly sorry." She sobbed crumpling to the floor in despair.

What could she do now?


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Miguel let out a small giggle watching the auburn red head as the teacher called on her when she clearly wasn't all there. He found it almost cute. For the rest of class, he couldn't stop bringing his attention back to her. Until he noticed that the Jezebel girl was basically glaring daggers at her and wondered what the story between them could be. Finally the bell rang and everybody started off for their next class. Just as he was about to make it to the gym, the fire alarms went off and everybody was then scrambling to get out of the school. As he managed to get out, he caught a glimpse of what had started the fire. A giant fire monster.

Miguel didn't know what to think. All he knew was that he had to get back home quickly. He ran as fast as he could and made it just as his phone rang. It was his father.

"Miguel, are you home?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. What about you?"

"I'm going to be home I'm pretty sure more than a little late, but please just stay and don't cause any trouble."

"You got it." Miguel answered hanging up.

When he got up to his room, he switched on his tv and listened as the reporters talked about the monster he saw leaving the campus earlier.

"…and we have just receive some breaking news from New York community college that a freak fire accident occurred barely even a few minutes ago, although these are not your typical fire incidents. Witnesses claim to have seen a man covered in flames setting and controlling the fires as if he were in command. We bring now live to our eyes in the sky over the scene."

"This is crazy." Miguel said with a bit more enthusiasm than he thought he should have.

His attention was then drawn to a small black box on his desk. "What's this doing here?" he asked himself picking it up.

When he opened it, he saw a ring inside but was then suddenly blinded by a bright light. When the light vanished, he saw a small black thing that almost looked like a cat floating right here in front of him.

"So cool, like a tiny floating cat."

"So what? I'm way cooler than cat." The thing remarked brushing his hand away. "You got anything to eat around here?" it said flying around.

"Hey get away from that." Miguel said chasing the thing.

Finally, he caught him trying to get into his sock drawer. "What are you, and what are you doing in my house?"

"I'm Plagg, I'm a kwami, I grant powers. Yours being the power of destruction. You getting all of this?"

"Not really." Miguel said shaking his head.

"Good, now you got any food around here? I'm straving."

"My father pranking me right?"

"Your father must never know that I exist, or any one for that matter."

"But why?" Miguel asked confused.

"Because your identity must remain secret and right now you and your new partner are the only ones who can stop that monster Inferno."

"Whoa you're serious?"

"Completely serious. Just put on the ring and be ready, that is if you're willing to do this."

Miguel didn't need much convincing, although as his kwami continued to talk he thought about what it was probably like to be a super hero and wasn't entirely paying attention.

"Claws out."

"Huh?"

"That's how you transform."

"Got it. Plagg Claws out!" Miguel called out.

In a bright flash, Miguel got a look at himself in his mirror and saw that he was now in a black leather skin tight suit and cat ears. Across his face was black mask and he saw that his eyes weren't like they usually were, they were the green eyes of a cat. While he was sure that anyone else would have been freaked out, he thought this was all too cool to be real.

"…we're taking you live to our footage of the monster known as Inferno who has made his stop in Central Park. It seems Inferno has set his sights on a target and is willing to destroy everything in his path to get to it."

"Okay, no time to take it." Miguel said climbing out his window.

He reached behind him and found an extendable rod. "Super cool."

Extending the rod, he laid across to the other roof top and began to walk across. "I could get used to this."

He then someone screaming and coming right at him. In the one moment he was able to see them before they crashed, he saw it was a girl in a red get up.

"Well hola senorita, nice of you to drop in." he greeted with his usual lady catching grin helping her to her feet.

"Uh, hey." She said taking his hand getting on her feet.

"You must be my new partner. I'm Cat Negro." He said shooting her a grin.

"I'm, I'm…" she tried to say but her yo-yo crashed into his head. "Sorry, I'm so sorry."

"Not to worry Sorry Girl. I'm new at this too." He said as he extended his staff and leapt on to the roof of the building following Inferno.

"Where are you going?" she called after him.

"To save the city, right?"

Cat Negro watched as his new partner nervously swung her yo-yo and flew to catch up with him. When they finally caught up with Inferno, they found him in the middle of Central Park.

"Let's blow out this candle." Cat Negro said as he started to race for their opponent.

"Wait." His partner said grabbing his tail before he could take off. "Don't you see, he's made entirely out of fire. We can't just rush in there, we'll be roasted alive."

"You gotta plan then?" He asked.

"Well," she said looking like she was deep in thought. "If there's three things a fire needs to burn, it's heat, fuel and oxygen. If we can remove even just one of them, we can bring him down."

"Sounds pretty legit, how do we do that?"

"Uh, I'm not sure." She said feeling stumped.

"Then how about we use our powers." Cat Negro suggested. "Cataclysm!" he summoned his powers. "Apparently my powers allow me to destroy whatever I touch."

"Well, that's just great." His partner said sounding annoyed.

Cat Negro reached over about to touch a flag pole. "No wait!" she yelled grabbing his arm to stop him. "You only get one shot to use your powers and then you'll have five minutes before you change back." She explained in a cold sweat.

"Oh, sorry."

"Didn't your kwami tell you anything?"

"Guess I was too excited about my new life."

"Great, anyway, I think I have an idea but I still need a little help." She said pulling out her yo-yo. "Lucky Charm!" she summoned.

What came to her was a blanket. "A blanket, what am I supposed to do with this?"

"Isn't hot enough around already?" Cat Negro laughed.

She looked around and then turned back to Cat Negro.

"I have a plan, you see that fire hydrant?" she said pointing at it.

"Yeah."

"When I give you the signal, use your powers to open it." She said grabbing the hose and wrapping herself in a blanket.

With a leap, she flew through straight to the heart of Inferno. "You're crazy!" Cat Negro yelled after her.

As she was about to pass through, she yelled for Cat Negro to open the hydrant. With a swipe of his hand, the hydrant burst open and water burst through the hose into the heart of the fire. The girl came out soaked but otherwise alright. As Inferno started to simmer down, he saw make a move for the thing the akmua must have been hiding in. A pair of brass knuckles. She grabbed them and threw them on the ground shattering them. Out it came a dark purple butterfly. She watched fly off and sighed with relief when she saw Inferno disappear.

"You were awesome Ms. Bug Lady." Cat Negro said putting hand on her shoulder as his ring started to beep.

"You better go, our identities must remain a secret." She said brushing him off.

"Got it, let's do this again some time." Cat Negro said racing off.

Racing across the roof tops, he made back to his place just before his time was up. Plagg came out panting.

"That was a wild ride." Miguel said as he set Plagg down on his bed. "You doing alright?"

"After each transformation, I need food."

"Well, what do you want?" Miguel asked wondering what it is someone like this could possibly eat.

"You got any camembert?"

Miguel was a little surprised to hear that his kwami liked camembert like his father did. He never had a stomach for it, but if it's what he wanted, then he could have it. He went down to the kitchen and pulled out a roll of camembert cheese. As he started to eat, he switched on the tv to hear what the news had to say about his and his partner's victory over Inferno.

"That girl is awesome, she's crazy awesome." Miguel breathed.

"…And New York is still in awe at our new guardian angels. Thanks to the ammature footage captured by a brave by stander, we now know the identities of these amazing individuals. Ladybug and Cat Negro. Mayor Harrison will now address us about these heros of the Big Apple."

"Speaking on behalf of a grateful city, I only have two words to offer for our defenders of justice, Thank you."

"Ladybug, her name's Ladybug." He breathed. "Amazing."

"This just in, we are receiving reports of people suddenly being transformed into burning pillars of fire. These fire those hot do not seem to be making any movement or progression. Concerned citizens are wondering what will happen to these people? For now anyone's guess is as good as the next." The reporters called in.

"Plagg, what's going on? I thought we defeated that guy?" Miguel asked confused.

"Did you capture the akuma?" Plagg asked.

"What's that got to do with this?"

"If an akuma is not captured and purified then it will multiple and turn other humans into these fire beings and if the person's emotions become negative again they will transform back into Inferno and he will be able to control them as his army." Plagg explained. "That's why the akuma must be captured and purified after it has been released."

"So what are we waiting for? Let's go and find this akuma and purify it before it causes any more damage."

"It's impossible without Ladybug." Plagg answered.

"What are you saying? I can't do anything without Ladybug?" Miguel asked confused.

"Only Ladybug can capture and purify the akumas and repair damages caused by supervillains."

"So basically without Ladybug, there's nothing we can do."

"That's basically it." Plagg answered sounding almost in as much concern about this as Miguel was.

But what could they do without Ladybug?


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Angela stood in her shower and let the warm water run down her body, but she still felt so cold. She had really messed up this time. Now so many people were being hurt because of her. Maybe she really wasn't any better than her father or her brother, maybe she really was just like them. After a few more minutes she finally shut the water off and grabbed her towel to dry off. As she got dressed, her eyes kept wandering to the drawer where she had hidden the earrings and Tikki. As much as she would have preferred to not think about them, she just couldn't get them out of her mind. Tikki kept telling her she was the chosen one, but after what happened, Angela wasn't so sure she was meant to be the chosen one, to be Ladybug. Surely there was someone better than her. She slide open her drawer and took the black box and put it in her bag. She then headed down stairs and was about to leave when Brock stopped her.

"Your father has asked me to drive you to your classes today." He explained to her.

"Since when does my father care?" Angela asked confused.

"He feels that in view of these events going on with all these strange fire beings suddenly appearing, it would be better if you had an escort today." Brock said almost as if he had rehearsed it.

Angela didn't really buy it but she knew that Brock was not going to let her go unless she did as he asked. She nodded and followed Brock out to the black 2115 Yukon that he normally drove.

"Brock, my father didn't ask you to do this did he?" Angela pushed as they drove on.

"You're right, he didn't." Brock sighed giving in.

"So why would want to do this for me?"

"It's because of your mother." Brock answered.

"My Mom?"

"The day she died in the hospital, she looked me in the eye and made me promise that I would look after you. Your mother was a close friend that I deeply cared for. If I could've saved her that day I would've at any cost. But all I can do for her now is keep my promise to her and make sure that nothing happens to you." Brock explained.

Angela didn't know what else to say. All she managed to get out was thank you as they drove on toward her campus. When they pulled up, Angela gave Brock a small smile and thanked him for driving her as he drove off. She started up for the doors and went in to meet up with Derek and Abbey. The three of the chatted as they walked toward their class room until Abbey brought the blog she was working on.

"I present to you, The Bug Blog." Abbey said sounding pretty proud of herself. "Presenting you with all the latest on New York's finest of fine heroes."

"But how can you trust Ladybug after all this, with all these people being turned into pillars of fire?" Angela asked still feeling regret for her mistake.

"Because I watched her and Cat Negro with my own four eyes Angel. She is amazing and she is going to find a way to save us and all these people. You'll see." Abbey said putting her arm around Angela's shoulder.

Angela gently put her hand on her bag where the black was sitting along with the rest of her stuff. If Abbey trusts her, and everyone else did too, then maybe it was meant to be her. But she was still afraid of hurting someone else again. So what was she to do?

As the three friends entered the literary arts room, they saw Miguel kneeling by Angela's seat.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing?" Angela snapped at him.

"I was," Miguel tried to answer.

"Did you do this?" Angela asked noticing a piece of gum on her seat.

"No I was just trying to get it off."

Angela then heard Jezebel starting to laugh. "I get it, very funny you two." Angela snapped at him putting a tissue over the piece of gum. "So you and Jezebel are all buddy buddy now huh?"

"No, it's nothing like that."

"Save it. Just leave me alone." Angela barked at him.

"No I was just,"

"I believe the lady told you to scram so why don't you just pull a Michael Jackson and beat it." Abbey said steeping between him and Angela.

Angela heard Miguel sigh and take his seat across the way.

"Don't let it get to you bra. If you just go with that flow, you're gonna be pulled out in a rip tide." Derek said patting her shoulder.

"Who does he think he is any way?" Abbey said with disgust in her voice. "Just because he's the son of the police sheriff,"

"I think it because he thinks he's better than that." Angela answered pulling out her phone and showed them what else she found about Miguel Dorado.

"No way, Miguel Dorado, from El Malos Buenos Chicos?" Abbey exclaimed. "How did I not see that?"

"Daddy's boy, big time Mexican music star and Jezebel buddy, forget it dude." Derek said in a dead beat tone.

'As if I even liked him to begin with.' Angela thought to herself as she took out her notebooks as the professor came in.

For the rest of class, Angela still couldn't get her decision out of her mind. Was she really making the right choice in not wanting to be Ladybug anymore?

Suddenly the fire alarms started to go off again and everybody started to panic and run for the exit. Angela, Derek and Abbey made out and got a look at the monster Inferno, he was back.

'Oh no, Sam's emotions became negative again and now he's changed back into Inferno.' Angela figured out. 'This is all my fault.'

"Girl, you coming with?" Angela heard Abbey call to her.

"What?"

"We're following him, Ladybug's gonna show up and go totally radical and I am not going to miss it this time." Derek explained with excitement.

"You guys go on, I'm finding me a safe place to hide." Angela said ducking behind a bush.

"Suit yourself." Abbey said as they took off on Derek's motorbike after Inferno.

Angela wasn't sure what she wanted to do. She haggled with a student and was able to get him to lend her his bike and she followed Derek and Abbey as fast as she could on a bike. As she pedaled after them, she heard Cat Negro fighting the other fire people and call out for her. By the time she got to scene, Cat Negro was about out matched.

"If you can hear me partner, I could use a little help here!" he called out as he continued to try and keep the fire being from burning the city to the ground.

Suddenly, Angela saw Derek and Abbey arrive on their motor bike. Out of nowhere, a car exploded and shrapnel was heading right for them. Cat Negro managed to save them by knocking the motor bike behind a wall that had collapsed. Angela felt her heart pounding in her chest to the point where she thought it would burst out of her chest.

"Help!" she heard Abbey call.

Angela knew what she had to do. She pulled out the black box and hide behind a building close by. She opened it and put on the earrings. Tikki reappeared in front of her with her usual bright smile.

"I need Ladybug." Angela confessed anxiously.

"I knew you would come around." Tikki said cheerfully.

"I'm still sure I'm meant for this, but my best friends and Cat Negro are in danger and if I'm the only one who can fix this then I can't just sit by and do nothing." Angela explained nervously.

"You know what to do."

"Tikki, Spots On!" Angela called.

In a bright flash, Angela saw that she was once again Ladybug. She threw her yo-yo and pulled Abbey and Derek out from behind the wall and up onto the roof.

"It's not safe here, you need to go get out of here." She said as she swung off to meet up with Cat Negro.

When she caught up with him, she saw he was about to be roasted alive by one of the flame beings. She threw her yo-yo and pulled him out of the way and up onto the roof with her.

"Sorry I was late." She apologized.

"Lady, have I ever told you you sweep me off my feet." He said winking at her.

"A real comedian aren't you?" she said with a smile.

They then heard Inferno cry out in rage. Ladybug and Cat Negro raced off after him.

"Hey, aren't we going to take care of the rest of them?" Cat Negro asked as he followed Ladybug.

"No. If we want to put this whole thing out, we need to put it out at the source, that one." She said as they finally caught up with Inferno at the Statue of Liberty.

As they got a closer look, they saw that Inferno was not the only one there. Inferno had taken Jezebel. And now Ms. Corrine was in the park shouting for her daughter.

"You want her, take her." Inferno yelled sending her flying.

Ladybug, leapt and caught Jezebel just before she hit the ground. Ms. Corrine ran up and hugged her daughter whom she thought she had lost forever.

"Thank you Ladybug." Ms. Corrine breathed.

"We are clear, fire on my command." Ladybug heard Sheriff Willis command.

"No! Stop!" Ladybug called out. "If you attack him you'll only make him angrier and things will only get worse!"

"How much worse could they get than this? Step aside and let us handle this, you're the reason we're all in the mess in the first place." Sheriff Willis remarked.

Ladybug was shocked but hurt at the same time. Because she felt that he was right and that's what she was afraid of.

"He's right you know?" She said turning to Cat Negro. "If I had done the job right and captured the akuma the first time none of this would have happened. I knew I wasn't meant to be a super hero, all I do is hurt people." She said putting her face in her hands.

"No, they're the ones who are wrong." Cat Negro said putting his hand on her shoulder. "Because without you, that girl would be dead and without us they won't even get close to Inferno and we'll show them that we are the only ones who can do this, you and me both, trust me."

She wasn't sure if his words or his gentle gesture, but when she heard him talk to her she felt her confidence and her spirit rise to a level she thought she would never reach on her own. She knew she could trust him, just as he trusted her.

Suddenly Inferno started to cry out in pain. From his mouth, a flock of black moths flooded from inside him and seemed to take the shape of a face.

"Citizens of New York city, I am Hawk Moth." The dark face announced. "Ladybug, Cat Negro, hand over the miraculous. The ladybug earrings and the black cat ring now. You have done enough damage to this city already."

Ladybug just lightly clapped her hands. "Nice try Hawk Moth but I think we can all tell who the bad guy is. Don't try and flip the script on us, without you none of these innocent people would be turned into monsters and villians. Hawk Moth, no matter where you, no matter how long it takes, we will find you and you'll be the one to hand over to us your miraculous." She declared grabbing her yo-yo.

Leaping and dancing through the air, she opened her yo-yo and swung through the moths. Capturing them inside. As they dispersed, she landed on the Statue of Liberty and turned to face the people.

"Let me make this promise to you all, here and now. No matter who wants to harm you, Ladybug and Cat Negro will be here and we will do everything within our power to keep all safe from harm." She declared releasing the purified akumas.

In a puff of white, hundreds of white moths burst from her yo-yo and flew all around the Statue of Liberty and fluttered away. But then Inferno regained consciousness and made a move for Ladybug who managed to dodge and helped Cat Negro get the people of the bridge.

"So what's the plan?" he asked her. "How are we going to take him down?"

"We know that he's burning with anger," she observed. "That's it, we don't get him to control his anger, we get him to let it go."

"Uh, what?" Cat Negro asked.

"I have an idea, follow me." She said running back.

She led Cat Negro back to the top of the Statue of Liberty. First we need to make sure that he can't go back across or that anyone else will either."

"And how are we going to do that?"

"By using our powers. You see the bridge controls over there?" she said pointing to the control center.

"Got it." Cat Negro said as he quickly made his way to the control box.

"Lucky Charm." Ladybug summoned. What came to her was a bungie cord. "What am I supposed to do with this?" she asked.

Looking back at Inferno, she saw that he was trying to go back across the bridge. "Cat Negro, now!" she called to him.

Once the bridge was up, he destroyed the controls and they both watched as Inferno began to falter. Ladybug then got a look at brass knuckles where the akuma was hidden and knew what she needed the bungie cord for. Wrapping the cord around her ankles, she waited until Inferno started to fall. She tied the other end to the bridge support and leapt for the akuma. It was hot and very close, but she managed to grab the akuma and was pulled right back up as Inferno hit the water. When she flew back up, Cat Negro caught her just before she could land.

"Thanks partner." She smiled. Back on her feet, she broke the brass knuckle and the akuma came fluttering out.

"No more terrorizing for you moth." She said opening her yo-yo. "Time to be purified." She declared capturing this time. "Be free little butterfly." She said releasing the little white butterfly. "Miraculous Ladybug!" she cried out as she threw her lucky charm and the city was repaired and the people changed back to normal.

All around them, they could see the beautiful glow flying to repair what had been damaged.

"It's amazing." Cat Negro breathed.

"Yeah, it's, it's miraculous!" Ladybug declared as she and Cat Negro helped Sam to his feet.

"What happened to me?" he asked.

"It's okay, but you know you don't have to let your temper get so out of control. I'm saying control it and keep it in, I'm saying find a way to let it out and then let it go." Ladybug said gently touching his shoulder.

"Thank you miss."

"Ladybug, the name's Ladybug." She said with a bright smile.

"You were amazing today mi Senora." Cat Negro said trying to put his arm around her shoulder as his ring started to beep.

"Opps, would you look at that? We better go before our identities are revealed." Ladybug said slipping out. "See you soon Cat Negro."

She then swung out and headed back for her house. As she reached her balcony and entered her room, she transformed back and Tikki landed in her hands.

"See, I told you you could do it."

"I know you did, but I had to learn I could for myself. It just a little time for me to figure it out." Angela answered as she carried Tikki across her room to the kitchen.

"So, do you want to quit?" Tikki asked her nervously.

"No, you were right, I was chosen for a reason and I may not understand why, but Cat Negro was right, he and I are the only ones who can protect this city and I did promise that I would do everything in my power to protect this city and its people." Angela answered handing Tikki a cookie and grabbing the rest on a plate. "So I think I stay as Ladybug, after all, I am the only one who can capture the akumas."

"That's my girl Angela." Tikki said as she ate with a smile.

The next day, Angela entered her class room and took her usual seat. Only this time, Jezebel was there trying to force her to move.

"If anyone is going to sit next to Miguel, it should be me." She snarcked at Angela. "Go on, move it."

"A strong person will stand up for themselves while a stronger person will stand up for others." Angela answered.

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about how I'm not going to put up with your high and mighty crap anymore Jezebel and neither is anyone else so take you overly inflated extensions and go on get lost." Angela declared pointing to Jezebel's usual seat at the back of the class.

"Nice one dude." Derek said lightly pounding her shoulder.

"You really let her know who the boss was, that was so cool."

"Hey, you're Angela right?" she turned and saw Miguel.

She just turned her head and acted like he wasn't there. As class started though, she couldn't stop from stealing an occasional glance at him. When class was over, she went the rest of her day trying not to think about him, but she just couldn't get him out of her mind. By the time her courses were done for the day, she was waiting outside for the bus but with it raining outside, she couldn't stand by the road. So she stood under the roof over hanging. When Miguel walked by, she still felt that she shouldn't talk to him.

"Look, I just want you to know that I was only trying to take the gum off your seat, I swear." Miguel explained. "I've never really been to a school like this before and I what I was so used to was just that everybody respected everybody and coming here, I wasn't sure what to expect. But I promise I would never do anything like what Jezebel did to you. I may not always play by the rules, but I would never do anything to hurt anyone. I swear."

He turned and handed Angela his umbrella. Angela felt her heart racing and soaring. With a shaking hand, she took the umbrella and smiled nervously at him.

"Thang yo, I mean, Fank, no, Thank you." She said as he walked away. "Why am I stammering?" she asked trying to keep her head straight.

"I might have an idea." She heard Tikki giggle from her bag.

Angela thought maybe Tikki was right, maybe there something between the two of them.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Miguel woke up feeling exhausted. He had been up all night trying to figure out what he could do to try and help the people of New York but if what Plagg told him was true and that without Ladybug there wasn't much he could do, then what good was he? He got up and while he normally would have gone out on a run, he wasn't in the right state of mind. Instead he went down into the basement and did about 30 minutes on the treadmill and 15 on the resistance machine. He then went up and got showered and ready for his classes that morning.

When he got back to his room, Plagg was asking him for more camembert cheese. Miguel wasn't too thrilled about his kwami's choice of foods, but at least his father wouldn't be suspicious of him bringing home stinky cheese as he seemed to enjoy it as well. After Miguel brought up the cheese and got dressed, he grabbed his book bag and had Plagg hide inside and then went out the door to catch the bus. As they were riding, Plagg poked his head out and asked Miguel he wanted to go to school.

"Because I want to be a musician and to do that I need to earn my degree in music." Miguel answered trying to keep Plagg hidden.

Plagg wasn't happy about the idea, but as long as he had camembert cheese, he was happy. Miguel sighed, of all things, why did it have to be camembert cheese?

Walking up to the campus doors, he met up with Martin again and they were about to enter the class room when Miguel found himself swarmed by Jezebel Corrine again.

"Hey Miguel. Did you miss me? Oh don't answer that, I know you missed me." She said grabbing and hanging on to his arm.

'Like I miss the chicken pox.' Miguel thought as he struggled to get loose from her.

As they entered the room, Miguel was about to take his seat when he saw Jezebel putting a piece of gum on the seat beside him. He remembered that's where the girl with the auburn red hair and blue eyes sat.

"What are you doing?" he asked shocked at her actions.

"The prick who sits here needs a little attitude adjustment." Jezebel answered.

"Do you really think that's necessary?" he asked kneeling by the girl's seat trying to get it off.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing?" He heard someone snap from behind him.

"I was," Miguel tried to answer.

"Did you do this?" The girl asked noticing a piece of gum on her seat.

"No I was just trying to get it off."

They both heard Jezebel starting to laugh. "I get it, very funny you two." The girl snapped at him putting a tissue over the piece of gum. "So you and Jezebel are all buddy buddy now huh?"

"No, it's nothing like that."

"Save it. Just leave me alone." She barked at him.

"No I was just,"

"I believe the lady told you to scram so why don't you just pull a Michael Jackson and beat it." The girl's friend said steeping between him and her.

Miguel sighed and took his seat across the way.

"Now do you see what I meant about respect? You have a lot to learn about school life here in the states Miguel. But don't worry, I'll teach you everything you need to know." He heard Jezebel say from behind him.

"Why didn't you just tell Angela that it was Jezebel?" Martin asked.

"Because, that's not the way I'm used to doing things. Where I'm from, we don't throw others under the bus, but we certainly don't treat each other the way Jezebel seems to treat her." Miguel explained. "I may not always play by the rules, but I do know what respect is and I know that she may not be the best person around but I can't disrespect her just because she's being a brat."

"You're something else man." Martin said giving his shoulder a playful punch.

The rest of class, Miguel couldn't stop thinking about how he was going to approach the girl named Angela and tell her about what happened without disrespecting Jezebel. He didn't want her to think that he was friends with Jezebel or that he was the one who put the gum on her seat. He couldn't help himself from stealing glances at her every now and again either. He had to admit, she was pretty, but he was sure she was already spoken for. With a fire in her like that and looks to match, who wouldn't want her? Once in a while, he saw her glancing at him and wondered what she could be thinking.

Out of nowhere, the fire alarms went off and everyone started to panic. Miguel got up and raced outside. He saw Inferno again and this time, he had a hostage. It was Jezebel and he did not look happy with her. Miguel hid behind the bushes and let Plagg out.

"Time to transform." Miguel said. "Plagg, claws out!"

In a bright flash, Miguel was once again Cat Negro. He took off after Inferno and saw that his problem got a whole lot bigger when the pillars of fire arrived. Things only got worse when he saw that he had been followed by two people from the college. He had his hands full and he knew there was no way he could do this alone.

"If you can hear me partner, I could use a little help here!" he called out as he continued to try and keep the fire being from burning the city to the ground.

Out of nowhere, a car exploded and shrapnel was heading right for them. Cat Negro managed to save them by knocking the motor bike behind a wall that had collapsed. He then had to dodge himself as he was almost roasted by one of the pillars of fire. Just as it looked like he was about to be out matched, he felt something wrap around his ankle and pulled him out of the way and up onto the roof of a nearby building. He turned around and saw that it was Ladybug.

"Sorry I was late." She apologized.

"Lady, have I ever told you you sweep me off my feet." He said winking at her.

"A real comedian aren't you?" she said with a smile.

They then heard Inferno cry out in rage. Ladybug and Cat Negro raced off after him.

"Hey, aren't we going to take care of the rest of them?" Cat Negro asked as he followed Ladybug.

"No. If we want to put this whole thing out, we need to put it out at the source, that one." She said as they finally caught up with Inferno at the Statue of Liberty.

As they got a closer look, they saw that Inferno was not the only one there. Inferno still had Jezebel. And now Ms. Corrine was in the park shouting for her daughter.

"You want her, take her." Inferno yelled sending her flying.

Ladybug, leapt and caught Jezebel just before she hit the ground. Ms. Corrine ran up and hugged her daughter whom she thought she had lost forever.

"Thank you Ladybug." Ms. Corrine breathed.

"We are clear, fire on my command." Ladybug heard Sheriff Willis command.

"No! Stop!" Ladybug called out. "If you attack him you'll only make him angrier and things will only get worse!"

"How much worse could they get than this? Step aside and let us handle this, you're the reason we're all in the mess in the first place." Sheriff Willis remarked.

Ladybug looked shocked and then turn to him.

"He's right you know?" She said turning to Cat Negro. "If I had done the job right and captured the akuma the first time none of this would have happened. I knew I wasn't meant to be a super hero, all I do is hurt people." She said putting her face in her hands.

Cat Negro was stunned to see how hard she could be on herself. Was she always this vunerable in real life, or was she just scared because she truly felt that this really was all her fault. Either way, he couldn't let think that way about herself. She was better than that and he knew it. Because he believed in her.

"No, they're the ones who are wrong." Cat Negro said putting his hand on her shoulder. "Because without you, that girl would be dead and without us they won't even get close to Inferno and we'll show them that we are the only ones who can do this, you and me both, trust me."

He saw her eyes light up at his words and he knew that she trusted him just as he trusted her. Suddenly Inferno started to cry out in pain. From his mouth, a flock of black moths flooded from inside him and seemed to take the shape of a face.

"Citizens of New York city, I am Hawk Moth." The dark face announced. "Ladybug, Cat Negro, hand over the miraculous. The ladybug earrings and the black cat ring now. You have done enough damage to this city already."

Ladybug just lightly clapped her hands. "Nice try Hawk Moth but I think we can all tell who the bad guy is. Don't try and flip the script on us, without you none of these innocent people would be turned into monsters and villians. Hawk Moth, no matter where you, no matter how long it takes, we will find you and you'll be the one to hand over to us your miraculous." She declared grabbing her yo-yo.

Leaping and dancing through the air, she opened her yo-yo and swung through the moths. Capturing them inside. As they dispersed, she landed on the Statue of Liberty and turned to face the people. Cat Negro stood in awe.

"Let me make this promise to you all, here and now. No matter who wants to harm you, Ladybug and Cat Negro will be here and we will do everything within our power to keep all safe from harm." She declared releasing the purified akumas.

"Wow, whoever she is beneath that mask, I love her." Cat Negro breathed.

In a puff of white, hundreds of white moths burst from her yo-yo and flew all around the Statue of Liberty and fluttered away. But then Inferno regained consciousness and made a move for Ladybug who managed to dodge and helped Cat Negro get the people of the bridge.

"So what's the plan?" he asked her. "How are we going to take him down?"

"We know that he's burning with anger," she observed. "That's it, we don't get him to control his anger, we get him to let it go."

"Uh, what?" Cat Negro asked.

"I have an idea, follow me." She said running back.

Cat Negro followed her back to the top of the Statue of Liberty.

"First we need to make sure that he can't go back across or that anyone else will either."

"And how are we going to do that?"

"By using our powers. You see the bridge controls over there?" she said pointing to the control center.

"Got it." Cat Negro said as he quickly made his way to the control box.

"Lucky Charm." Ladybug summoned. What came to her was a bungie cord. "What am I supposed to do with this?" she asked.

"Cat Negro, now!" she called to him.

Cat Negro then flipped the switch on the controls and raised the bridge.

Once the bridge was up, he destroyed the controls using his cataclysm and they both watched as Inferno began to falter. Wrapping the cord around her ankles, Ladybug waited until Inferno started to fall. She tied the other end to the bridge support and leapt for the akuma. It was hot and very close, but she managed to grab the akuma and was pulled right back up as Inferno hit the water. When she flew back up, Cat Negro caught her just before she could land.

"Thanks partner." She smiled. Back on her feet, she broke the brass knuckle and the akuma came fluttering out.

"No more terrorizing for you moth." She said opening her yo-yo. "Time to be purified." She declared capturing this time. "Be free little butterfly." She said releasing the little white butterfly. "Miraculous Ladybug!" she cried out as she threw her lucky charm and the city was repaired and the people changed back to normal.

All around them, they could see the beautiful glow flying to repair what had been damaged.

"It's amazing." Cat Negro breathed.

"Yeah, it's, it's miraculous!" Ladybug declared as she and Cat Negro helped Sam to his feet.

"What happened to me?" he asked.

"It's okay, but you know you don't have to let your temper get so out of control. I'm not saying control it and keep it in, I'm saying find a way to let it out and then let it go." Ladybug said gently touching his shoulder.

"Thank you miss."

"Ladybug, the name's Ladybug." She said with a bright smile.

"You were amazing today mi Senora." Cat Negro said trying to put his arm around her shoulder as his ring started to beep.

"Opps, would you look at that? We better go before our identities are revealed." Ladybug said slipping out. "See you soon Cat Negro."

She then swung out of sight. "And you mi senora." He answered with a bow before taking off.

When he made it back to his house he sat down to hear the story people were telling about him and Ladybug.

"…once again Ladybug and Cat Negro have save New York City and Mayor Harrison would like to extend a hand of gratitude to our new heroes of the Big Apple. Speaking on behalf a grateful people, this report can only say two words, Thank you."

"She was amazing." Miguel breathed switching the tv off. "I have to know who she is Plagg."

"You know that you can't." Plagg said chewing on his cheese.

"I know, but still I want to know who she really is under that mask. I love her." Miguel said looking out the window at the setting sun.

The next day in class, Miguel sat down in his usual place. He tried to wave hello to Angela, but she just turned away. Apparently she was still mad.

"Hey dude. If you want her to not stay mad at you, then just talk to her, you know about the gum." Martin said beside him.

"What will I say to her?"

"Just be yourself man." Martin answered with a hand on his shoulder.

Miguel turned around when he heard Jezebel come in and then made her way over to Angela's place. And tried to force her to move.

"If anyone is going to sit next to Miguel, it should be me." She snarcked at Angela. "Go on, move it."

"A strong person will stand up for themselves while a stronger person will stand up for others." Angela answered.

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about how I'm not going to put up with your high and mighty crap anymore Jezebel and neither is anyone else so take you overly inflated extensions and go on get lost." Angela declared pointing to Jezebel's usual seat at the back of the class.

"Wow, you've gotta love a girl that has a fire in her belly." Martin said as they watched her put Jezebel in her place, literally.

"No kidding." Miguel answered thinking of his fiery lady.

The rest of class, Miguel tried to think of what to say to Angela. And it went on for the rest of his courses that day. When courses were done for the day, Miguel started out for the bus. On his way out, he saw Angela waiting under the roof. When he walked by and tried to say hello, she just turned her head away.

"Look, I just want you to know that I was only trying to take the gum off your seat, I swear." Miguel explained. "I've never really been to a school like this before and I what I was so used to was just that everybody respected everybody and coming here, I wasn't sure what to expect. But I promise I would never do anything like what Jezebel did to you. I may not always play by the rules, but I would never do anything to hurt anyone. I swear."

He turned and handed Angela his umbrella. Miguel could see that obviously what he said got through to her. With a shaking hand, she took the umbrella and smiled nervously at him.

"Thang yo, I mean, Fank, no, Thank you." She said as he walked away. "Why am I stammering?" she asked trying to keep her head straight.

"Oh what was that all about? You're here for only three days and we already have two love birds." Plagg laughed poking his head out.

"Whatever, she's just a friend." Miguel smiled. "Yeah, a friend."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

(Three months later)

Angela woke up feeling kind of hazy but perked up when she remembered day it was. Although she wasn't entirely happy about it. She quickly got up and showered. After she was showered and dressed, as she was doing her make up, Tikki flew over.

"Happy Birthday Angela!" Tikki said handing her a cookie.

"Thanks Tikki!" Angela kidding taking it.

"Wait." Tikki said swooping over to Angela's desk and grabbing a candle.

Tikki swooped back over and placed the candle in the center of the cookie. Angela laughed and lit the candle.

"Now you have to make a wish and blow out the candle." Tikki smiled.

Angela giggled and then closed her eyes. With a small breath she blew out her candle.

"What did you wish for?" Tikki teased.

"If I told you it wouldn't come true." Angela teased back. "But thanks Tikki. You have just made my birthday morning." Angela said rubbing Tikki's head.

After Angela finished getting ready, she grabbed her book bag and then headed for the door. But just before she could go out, Brock stopped her.

"Angela, wait. I have something I need to give to you." He said pulling her toward her room.

"Brock, what is it? I have to hurry, the bus is going to be here soon." Angela protested as he pulle din and shut the door.

"I wanted to give you this." He answered handing Angela a music box with a golden tree on top of it. "It belonged to your mother."

"My mom?" Angela breathed taking it."

"Yes, wind it up. You need to hear what it sounds like."

Angela wound it up and was stunned to hear what played. "It's Mom's lullaby." Angela breathed. As the song played, Angela couldn't help but sing along with it.

 _"_ _Between the dark and the daylight,_

 _When the night is beginning to lower,_

 _Comes a pause in the day's occupations,_

 _That is known as the children's hour._

 _"_ _I hear in my chamber above me_

 _The patter of little feet;_

 _The sound of a door that is opened,_

 _And voices soft and sweet._

 _"_ _From my study I see in the lamplight,_

 _Descending the broad hall stair,_

 _Grave Alice, and laughing Allegra,_

 _And Edith with golden hair._

 _"_ _A whisper and then silence,_

 _Yet I know by their merry eyes_

 _They are plotting and planning together_

 _To take me by surprise._

 _"_ _A sudden rush from the stairway;_

 _A sudden raid from the hall;_

 _By three doors left unguarded_

 _They enter my castle-wall._

 _"_ _They climb up into my turret,_

 _O'er arms and back of my chair;_

 _If I try to escape the surround me,_

 _They seem to be everywhere._

 _"_ _They almost devour me with kisses,_

 _Their arms about me entwine,_

 _Till I think of the Bishop of Bingen,_

 _In his Mouse-tower on the Rhine._

 _"_ _Do you think, O blue-eyed banditti,_

 _Because you have scaled the wall,_

 _Such an old mustache as I am_

 _Is no match for you all?_

 _"_ _I have you fast in my fortress,_

 _And will not let you depart,_

 _But put you into the dungeon,_

 _In the round-tower of my heart._

 _"_ _And there will I keep you forever-_

 _Yes, forever and a day;_

 _Till the walls shall crumble to ruin,_

 _And moulder in dust away."_

As the song ended and the music box stopped playing, Angela felt her eyes starting to water with tears. Hearing the familiar music and singing the words she thought she would never hear again, it brought back so many happy memories of what her family had been like before they lost her mother.

"Brock, I don't know what to say other than thank you so much." Angela said setting the music box down and for the first time in a long time, she reached out her arms to hug someone, Brock. And though he was hesitant, he hugged her back.

"Your mother would have wanted you to have it." Brock answered. "You better go, that bus will be here soon and I don't think you'll want to miss it."

"Thanks Brock." Angela said putting the music box in her bag and then racing outside to catch the bus just as it was pulling up.

As Angela sat on the bus as it drove off, Tikki poked her head out of Angela's purse.

"Brock really seems to care about you a lot."

"Yeah, he still works for my father, but he's really been my only friend inside the Angeles Diablos." Angela said reaching into her book bag and taking out the music box and looking at it again. "I imagine my mother had planned to give this to me at some point or another but she never got the chance. Brock has really has been a good friend to me."

Angela rubbed her hands on the worn wooden box for a while longer as the bus drove on. When the pulled up to the college campus, she put the music box back into her bag and quickly got off the bus. As she walked up to the doors to meet with Derek and Abbey, she was stopped by Miguel.

"Hey Angela." He greeted her.

"Guy there, I mean, Hi there." She stuttered.

Over the last few months, Angela began to notice that she was developing some attraction to Miguel until she finally admitted to herself that she was now head over heels for him. Even now she was having a hard time keeping her emotions in check just trying to talk to him.

"I heard it was your birthday today and I just wanted to give you this." Miguel said handing her a CD. "It's the final album my band I did before we broke up. I thought you would want it since you never got a copy before they sold out."

"How did you know about that?" Angela asked stunned. "How did you even know that I liked El Malos Buenos Chicos?"

"I guess you could say I heard from a grapevine." He smiled turning to Abbey. "She told me that you were crazy in love with us and was so crushed when we broke up. I thought you deserved a copy of our final album."

"Wow, thanks Miguel." Angela breathed.

"We better go or we're going to be late for class." Miguel said as they started up for the doors.

"Yeah. Tanks, No Thanks for the CD. I love it."

Miguel smiled and disappeared in the crowd as Angela met up with Derek and Abbey.

"So bra, we gotta know, what time is the big party?" Derek asked.

"What party?" Angela asked confused.

"You know, your birthday party? You can't expect to turn 21 and not have a party." Derek explained.

"Sorry Derek, but a party is out of the question. My Dad would and will make sure of that." Angela answered feeling a little disappointed by that fact.

"Dude come on, you can't say that your old man's not going to let you celebrate turning the big two-one?"

"Unfortunately yes I can."

"That's messed up, you'd think your dad would remember what was like to be our age and want to have a good time every now and again."

"Unfortunately it's because he remembers he doesn't want me to. Besides, I'm pretty sure he was a stick in the mud then too." Angela remarked as they entered the class room.

"You know what, I'm gonna have a little heart to heart with your old man." Derek said as they sat down.

"Derek, for all our sakes, it would be best if you didn't." Angela begged. "Look it's fine, we'll celebrate my birthday another way."

Everything went quiet as the Calculus professor came in and started the lesson. All the while, Angela found herself wishing that her father would let her have a party for once to celebrate her birthday. The last time she had anything close to a birthday party was her Quinceañera, which by some miracle her grandparents had talked her father into letting her have shortly before they passed away. Now here she was, turning twenty-one and her father still insisted on treating her like a child.

"Ms. Martinez, would you please tell us what the correct equation is for number 4 on page 206." Mr. Crone asked shocking Angela from her thoughts.

"Uh," Angela scrambled to find the answer. "I'm sorry professor, I wasn't paying attention.'

"Then I suggest you start paying attention." He said calling on someone else.

"A lot on your mind girl?" Abbey asked quietly.

"Just wishing that things could go back to the way they were before we lost Mom, but then again, I don't think that even if Mom could come back that Dad would be willing to go back. He's been in this for too long I'm not sure if even remembers how to be happy." Angela answered.

"Well, hey, just keep your chin up, you'll find your own happiness to someday." Abbey said patting Angela's shoulder. "And who knows, it could be sitting right next to you." Abbey teased turning Angela's face toward Miguel

"Stop it." Angela laughed.

"Eyes forward." Mr. Crone called out.

Angela was happy to have friends like Brock, Derek and Abbey. But more than anything, she was especially happy to have Tikki and being able to transform into Ladybug. With each villain they defeated, Angela felt that as Ladybug, she was actually doing good for the city for once in her life instead of damaging people's lives had she felt that she had done for a long time. She was grateful for that and for those whom she felt truly cared about her.

After classes were over for the day, Angela remembered she was supposed to go by the store to pick up some medicine for Ms. Roland down the street. She said good bye to her friends and made her way to the pharmacy to pick up Ms. Roland's medicine. As she walked home, Tikki asked what she would do if she did have a party.

"I would have a huge pool party in the backyard with a big BBQ going, singing karaoke and playing pool volley ball, that would be the best birthday ever." Angela said smiling.

"That does sound like fun." Tikki smiled as they walked down the street to Ms. Roland's.

When Angela walked up to Ms. Roland's door, the elderly woman was waiting for her on her front porch.

"Oh, thank you so much Angela. Won't join me for some ice tea sweet heart?" the old woman asked her.

"I would love to, but just water would be fine. Thanks." Angela said as they went into the old woman's home.

"You know, you are so much like your mother." Ms. Roland said bringing Angela a glass of ice water.

"Really, how?" Angela asked taking a sip.

"You're so beautiful for one, just like her, and another, your sweet heart and tender care for those around you. You want what's best for those you meet, even those you barely even know." Ms. Roland explained. "Your mother, every day she would come over and help me do my kitchen and laundry. Even when she had to do it by herself after I had my hip replacement she would do it with that beautiful smile you inherited from her. If she could see the woman you have grown up to be today, she would be so proud of you."

"Thanks Ms. Roland." Angela said finishing her ice water. "Is there anything else I can do for you Ms. Roland?"

"Oh no dear, you did plenty for me today just by bringing me my medicine and for your warm hearted company." Ms. Roland said with a grandmother's smile.

Angela hugged the old woman and started walking down the street for home. When she got there, she was surprised to see Derek in the front hall at the bottom of the stairs talking to her father who was at the top of the stairs.

"Derek, what are you doing here?" she asked in surprise.

"Please sir, show some awesomeness for her, this her 21st birthday, and she has already done so much for you and her brother. Let her live for once." Derek was pleading.

"Listen young man, I decide what my daughter is and is not allowed to do." Her father said with a voice thick with anger. "In fact I've just decided that she is not allowed to be have you around her again. Get out of my house."

"Dad! No, please, he was just trying to be a good friend. He meant no disrespect." Angela pleaded.

"This is what comes from going out to colleges like that and hanging around insects like him? Disrespect, insolence! You will lead him to the door and tell him that you never want to see him again." He ordered Angela.

"Father no, please! He's my best friend, don't ask me to do this." Angela pleaded feeling like her heart was about to break.

"If you wish to continue to go to college you will do as I say, is that clear?" he thundered at her.

Angela hung her head and took Derek by the arm and gently led him to the door. Opening it with shaking hands, she gently pulled him out the door. Stepping back in, her lips quivered and her throat tightened as the words choked in her throat.

"I…I never want to see you again." She sobbed. "Please, Derek, just go." She sobbed as her body began to shake.

Shutting the door hesitantly, she dragged her feet across the floor and up to her room. Once she shut the door, she dropped her bag and crumbled onto her bed and began to cry. As she cried, she felt Tikki brushing against her face.

"Angela?" she heard Tikki over her tears.

"I've done a lot of things I'm not proud of Tikki, but this has to be the worst thing I have ever had to do because of my father." Angela said sitting up to see her kwami.

"Are you going to be okay? You'll still see him at school right?" Tikki asked brushing her tears away

"I know, but it still feels like I drove a stake through both our hearts with what I had to say to him. And I don't know if I'll ever be okay as long as I live here." Angela answered as she wiped her face with a tissue.

"Then why do you stay here if you're not happy?"

"Because I have nowhere else to go and if I tried to leave, my father would track me down and get rid of anyone who would try to hide me. I could never do that to innocent people who would only be trying to do good."

"Ms. Roland was right, you really do care about what's best for others before yourself." Tikki smiled sympathically rubbing against Angela's face in a hug.

Angela managed a small smile as she gently brought her hand up to hug Tikki back. Suddenly, Angela felt very cold.

"Whoa, Tikki do you feel that?" Angela asked as she released a small shiver.

"Yes I do. What do you think's happened?" Tikki answered getting closer to Angela.

"I don't know, but we better go check it out." Angela answered heading for her door.

As soon as she stepped out of her room, she saw something that made her heart go cold as well, she saw Brock and her brother frozen at the bottom of the stairs.

"Brock! Josh!" she cried out racing down the stairs to them.

When she got to them, she quickly began searching for signs that they were okay. Placing her ear to Brock's chest, she heard his heart still beating.

"Their hearts are still beating, that means they're alive." She said still in a state of panic but otherwise relieved that they were okay for now.

"Hawk Moth must have released another akuma." Tikki said sounding equally upset.

"Which means we better get out there and find it before things get any worse." Angela said letting Tikki hide in her jacket as she raced for the door.

However as soon as she opened the door, she found herself face to face with someone who literally gave her the chills.

"Hey, what's up bra? Guess what, Daddy's gone. While the adults are out, kids will live it out." The one whom Angela knew without a shadow of a doubt was the akuma she was looking for, and unfortuanetly, she had an idea of who it was.

"Derek?" she asked feeling freaked out seeing him like this.

His skin was a pale blue color with his hair up in a spiked ice style and just as blue as the ice he clearly had used to trap Brock and Josh. In his hand was what looked like a water gun but at the barrel was what looked like a snow cone.

"Derek has taken a chill pill, now I'm Thrill Chill. And have I got a surprise for you, so come with me little lady." He said putting his arm around her waist and taking to the air with Angela, out of reflex, wrapping her arm around his neck to make sure she didn't fall.

After flying over half the city, Thrill Chill brought them down in the ice rink in the center of what he had clearly made into a winter wonderland of some sort. But in it, was a good amount of people from the college. Some she knew and some she had never met before. Setting her down in the center of all the people, he flew over to the stage at the head of the group.

"Well, now we have all our peps here, time to party!" he declared.

All around them, walls of ice rose preventing anyone from leaving. As every tried not to freak out, Thrill Chill turned up the music.

"Today's a very special day and I would love to call everyone's attention to our guest of honor, Angela Martinez!" He said over the mic-system. "Today is this awesome girl's 21st birthday and we are here to celebrate! Can I get a ohhh-ohhh!"

Everyone around Angela called back, but looking at their faces, they did not look thrilled to be here. And if she was being honest, she wasn't exactly the happy birthday girl about this either. As much as she would have loved to have a party, she didn't want it to happen like this. While everyone around her danced, she did her best to make it look like she was having a good time. All the while, she was trying to find a place to transform.

"Angela, you have to transform." Tikki told her poking her head out from Angela's shirt.

"I know, but there's no place for me to hide so no one will see me. And if I transform now everyone will know that I'm Ladybug." Angela whispered. "We'll just have to wait and hope that Cat Negro shows up soon and while Thrill Chill is distracted we can sneak away to transform. For now, it looks like we're just going to have to sit tight."

Angela suddenly felt someone touch her shoulder. She turned around and saw Miguel standing behind her.

"Miguel, what are you doing here?" she asked suddenly feeling her heart racing.

"Thrill Chill brought me here along with everyone else here. Apparently he has done all of this for you for your birthday."

"I know, I swear, I never asked him to do this."

"I know you wouldn't and it's not your fault. But that's not why I found you." Miguel said putting his hand on her shoulder.

"Then, why did you come to find me?" Angela asked confused.

As if on cue, a slow song started to play. Her favorite slow song from her high school days.

"Someone told me you had never had a slow dance before. I thought you could use a good first experience." He said taking her hand and leading.

Angela felt her face going hot and red and her heart pounding so fast she thought she was going to faint. As she and Miguel danced across the floor, she wasn't even sure if she could remember what it was she was supposed to be doing again. Her mind was racing, her first slow dance was with the guy she was totally crazy about. She wanted to enjoy it, but she had to remind herself that she had a job to do and that she had to stay sharp. But that didn't stop her from smiling at the thought of dancing with Miguel.

When at last, the song ended, everyone began to dance lively again. Angela did the best she could to thank Miguel without blabbering.

"It was no big deal." Miguel said with his usual smile. "And hey, don't worry, Ladybug and Cat Negro will be here, I promise."

"Thanks." Angela said not entirely registering what he said.

"I'm gonna go get some punch, be right back."

"Angela, you need to stay focused." Angela heard Tikki say snapping her out of her haze.

"Sorry Tikki, you're right I shouldn't let myself get distracted." Angela said shaking her head. "Oh where is Cat Negro?" Angela asked out loud almost in a plea.

No sooner than she had said that, the music suddenly stopped in a scratch. Angela turned around to see Cat Negro on top of the ice wall.

"Sorry to crash your party." Cat Negro said swinging his rod.

"You will not bust up my party!" Thrill Chill shouted pulling out his ice gun.

Angela saw her chance. Hiding in a crevice in the ice, she let Tikki out. "Tikki, Spot On!" In flash, she transformed into Ladybug and joined Cat Negro at the top of the ice wall just as Cat Negro was about to frozen, blocking the blast with a swing of her yo-yo.

"Sorry for being tardy to the party. My invitation must have gotten lost in the mail." She snarked.

"Good to see mi senora." Cat Negro grinned.

"Why y'all gotta be such haters?" Thrill Chill asked harshly.

"You froze all the adults in the city and now you're freezing anybody who isn't having fun." Cat Negro answered.

"You both need to chill out!" Thrill Chill said pointing his gun at Ladybug and Cat Negro and began shooting blasts of ice.

Ladybug and Cat Negro began dancing and dodging while trying to deflect the blasts. Once it looked like they could catch their breath, they began to feel the ice swarming them like bees. All at once, they found themselves trapping in an ice block.

"Now give me your miraculouses before you freeze." Thrill Chill demanded.

"Dream in Chill." Ladybug snapped.

"What party poopers, just like adults."

"Kids need their parents!" Cat Negro declared.

"Wrong-o! Kids need freedom, relax and chill out. All adults do is nag and control."

"But parents care for their kids, they love them." Cat Negro defended.

"Most parents anyway." Ladybug muttered to herself. "You need to let the adults go!" she shouted.

"Fat chance, but I'll tell you what, if you care about these adults so much, why don't you go chill with them for a while." Thrill Chill said pointing his gun and blasted the ice block sending it sliding across a path of ice picking up speed.

Ladybug and Cat Negro began trying to break the ice, literally with their weapons. But they weren't getting anywhere.

"Use your cataclysm." Ladybug said getting Cat Negro's attention.

"Couldn't you've said that 100 miles per hour ago?" Cat Negro remarked.

"We can't stay trapped inside this ice berg together forever." She objected.

She quickly realized her mistake saying it as she had. Cat Negro got that grin that Ladybug grew to know all too well in the few months that she had worked with Cat Negro, his flirtatious, lady-catching smile he expected to work on her on his face. Ladybug had to admit he was good, but she didn't feel he was her type. Not when she was already in love with someone else. But Cat Negro did as she said.

"Cataclysm!" he summoned.

With a touch, the ice block shattered and Ladybug and Cat Negro took a harsh tumble as they slide across the icy road as they tried to stop. But finally, they managed to stop and pick themselves up.

"You okay mi senora?" Cat Negro asked helping Ladybug to her feet.

"I'm fine, but need to get to Thrill Chill's ice gun, that's gotta be where the akuma is." Ladybug said getting to her feet.

With a beep from his ring, Cat Negro and Ladybug knew that they had to hurry. Running as fast as they could past frozen people, cars and other things caught in Thrill Chill's wrath, they finally made it back to Thrill Chill's ice fortress.

"May be it's for you to thaw out." Ladybug said as they reached the wall. No one wants to party with you anymore Thrill Chill." She said as the rest of the people trapped inside started to cheer for her and Cat Negro.

"Well maybe they'll enjoy this." Thrill Chill said freezing everyone in ice blocks and then sending them flying. "The North Pole's the next stop for your precious peps and they're never coming back." He threatened.

Now they really didn't have a lot of time. Ladybug and Cat Negro led Thrill Chill toward the only place that would give them any kind of advantage, Madam Susan's Saunas. Once inside, Cat Negro warned Ladybug he was going to switch back soon.

"Lucky Charm!" she summoned. What appeared was thermos.

Looking around, she saw what she needed. "Cat Negro, you're a cool cat, get to him into the sauna." She said running for the hot water valve.

Filling the thermos, she raced to get inside before Cat Negro could close the door. Once in, the steam and heat kicked up with Thrill Chill amplifying it's need for cool to produce heat. With all the steam, she had the advantage to get the drop on him. With the hot water in the thermos, she incapacitated him enough to get ahold of his ice gun and break it. Cat Negro opened the doors as the steam started to subside. As the door opened, a small black moth fluttered out of the broken gun.

"No more terrorizing for you moth." Ladybug said preparing her yo-yo for the capture. "Time to be purified." She said with a twirl capturing the akuma inside. "Be free little butterfly." She said releasing the purified akuma. "Miraculous Ladybug." She said tossing the thermos, repairing the damage to the city and freeing the people.

Derek turned back to normal and seem confused, but otherwise alright, much to Ladybug's relief.

"Ole!" Ladybug and Cat Negro said together as they congratulated each other for their efforts.

Cat Negro quickly took off as Ladybug helped Derek out of the sauna. Ladybug then had to take off too. She swung home and quickly ran down stairs and found that her brother and Brock were both okay. Brock didn't hesitate this time to return her hug, but her brother on the other hand refused her affection and just brushed her aside saying he was fine.

Angela went up to her father's room and found it empty, but was relieved to see him when she turned around and saw him in the hall. She ran to hug him, but like her brother, he pushed her away saying he was fine and that she shouldn't have worried so much.

The next day, Angela showed up at school seeing Derek okay. She was just happy he didn't remember being Thrill Chill and that everything turned out okay. What made her even happier was when she remembered she got to dance with the guy she totally in love with.

"See Angela, you did get your happy birthday." Tikki said poking her head out of her purse.

"Yeah, it was definitely a birthday to remember." She said she sat down for class, looking over at Miguel.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

(shortly before Thrill Chill's attack)

Miguel rode the bus home smiling. He was happy he was able to help Derek and Abbey make Angela's birthday. He was happy that Angela was fan of his former band and that she, unlike Jezebel, was more subtle about it. In the few months that they had been classes together, he was starting to see why some of the people at the college liked her. She was pretty, she was sweet and she cared about others probably more than she cared about herself. She really deserved the name 'Angela'. He was happy that they were friends. While he would've gladly accepted her as girlfriend if they did start dating, his heart already belonged to someone, even though he had no idea who she really was. Ladybug was something special and he was ready to wait as long as it would take for her to fall for him.

Finally, they pulled up in front of his house and he hopped off the bus. As he walked up his drive way, he was surprised to see his Dad's car in the drive way. As he went in, he picked the strong smell of tobacco smoke in the living room.

"Dad, what are you doing?" Miguel almost coughed.

"Sorry son, had a few guests over who apparently couldn't resist a cigar or two." His father apologized opening a window.

"What are doing home so early?"

"I was just thinking that we could have a father/son day today after you got home." Sheriff Willis explained. "Just to have a chance for us to bond."

Miguel didn't know what to say. He wasn't sure if his mother had talked him into it or if it really was his idea, but either way Miguel was happy for the chance to get to know his old man, the father he never had the chance to meet until recently.

"Maybe we can start by just trimming that hair, it's looking pretty wild" Sheriff Willis suggested.

"Not too much." Miguel said sitting down and releasing his hair from the ponytail he had had it in.

As he let it fall, he realized how long it really had gotten. Where a few months ago it barely reached below his shoulders, it now reached the middle of his back. Sheriff Willis came back with hair scissors and asked Miguel how much he wouldn't mind losing. Miguel told him now higher than the base of his neck. As Sheriff Willis cut his hair, he and Miguel took the time to talk about what happened between his and Miguel's mother.

"Your mother was quiet the catch. She was beautiful and full of life. Thick black hair, just like yours, and just a will to grab at life every chance she got." Sheriff Willis said as length after length of Miguel's hair fell to the floor. "When I first met her, she was at the bar trying so hard to get the bar tender to let her go up on stage to sing. But the bar tender was a bit of a racist of a man and refused to let her sing. I stepped in and pulled some strings that had him singing a different tune.

"After that, your mother was impossible to lose. She found out where I worked and followed me around for days before I finally asked her out. We dated for two months before we found out that she was pregnant with you. Shortly thereafter, however, I learned that she was an illegal immigrant and was being hunted down by the border enforcement. And I'm sad to say, as much as I loved your mother, I was the sheriff and needed to uphold the law. I turned your mother in and she was taken back to Mexico City with you still inside her."

"Why was Mom trying to get out of Mexico?" Miguel asked.

"I don't know, I never got the chance to ask her. But I am happy she didn't forget me, because to be honest, I was never able to forget her either. Because now, I have the chance to get to know you, my son."

After cutting Miguel's hair to reach just above the base of his neck, Sheriff Willis hair cut it so it would look more appropriate for how thick his hair was. After he was done, he handed Miguel a mirror and asked him what he thought.

"Nice job." Miguel answered satisfied with the turn out. "I think I might keep this for a while."

Sheriff Willis laughed softly as he started to put the scissors and other stuff away when suddenly, Miguel felt a cold draft and then heard his father cry out in fear. He turned around and saw his father frozen solid in a case of ice.

"Dad!" he cried trying to break the ice, literally.

"Hawk Moth must have released another akuma." Plagg said zipping out of his shirt.

"I need to find it and free its akuma ASAP." Miguel said racing for the door.

As he reached the outside however, he found himself picked up by a strong cold wind that carried him over the city and into what looked like some ice fortress. Inside, he saw several of the people from his college already there.

"Plagg, what do we do? We can't transform here." Miguel asked quietly looking around.

"I say let it play out for a while, it doesn't look like we'll be going anywhere any time soon."

"I'm serious Plagg, my father is in danger and whatever did this to him probably did the same thing to all the adults in the city."

"What makes you think it's only the adults who are affected?"

"Because, when the blast hit, only Dad was frozen but it just left me alone. Which could only mean that several innocent people could be frozen and they may not have much time before they freeze to death." Miguel explained. "We've gotta find a place to transform."

Out of nowhere, Miguel heard Angela cry out in surprise as what Miguel could tell was the akuma carried her in. Of all the people that had been brought here, why was she the only one he would bring personally? Did the akuma know Angela?

"Well, now we have all our peps here, time to party!" he declared.

All around them, walls of ice rose preventing anyone from leaving. As every tried not to freak out, Thrill Chill turned up the music.

"Today's a very special day and I would love to call everyone's attention to our guest of honor, Angela Martinez!" He said over the mic-system. "Today is this awesome girl's 21st birthday and we are here to celebrate! Can I get a ohhh-ohhh!"

Everyone around Angela called back, but looking at their faces, they did not look thrilled to be here. Miguel suddenly had an idea of who it was, it had to be Derek, he had been akumatized by Hawk Moth, but why? Miguel knew how much Derek had wanted to make Angela's 21st birthday special, but had happened that would have left him vulnerable to Hawk Moth's akumas? All of these were questions that could be answered later. He kept trying to find a place to transform until he got a look at Angela and saw how upset she looked. He started thinking that, though this probably wasn't what she would have wanted her party to be like, she was some sort of happy for it. What was most likely bothering her was the fact that she had never been to a party like this before and felt nervous and wasn't sure how to have a good time.

Miguel felt sorry for her and that, even though they had an even bigger situation on his hands, he wanted to make good on his promise to Derek to help make Angela's birthday special. But he still had to transform and he told Plagg as much.

"Look, if you want to keep your promise to Derek, just ask Angela to dance with you. Give her her first slow dance. Then we'll find a place to transform, trap Derek's akuma and then all will be good." Plagg laid out for Miguel.

"You know what Plagg, you're right. Angela deserves this." Miguel said heading up to the DJ stand. "I'd like to request a slow dance."

"Bit early for that isn't it dude?" Thrill Chill asked.

"It's for Angela, it's her first slow dance." Miguel answered.

"You know it bro." Thrill Chill said pulling out his records.

Putting a slow song out on to the DJ table, he went out to meet Angela. Angela seemed surprised to see him.

"Miguel, what are you doing here?" she asked sounding flustered.

"Thrill Chill brought me here along with everyone else here. Apparently he has done all of this for you for your birthday."

"I know, I swear, I never asked him to do this."

"I know you wouldn't and it's not your fault. But that's not why I found you." Miguel said putting his hand on her shoulder.

"Then, why did you come to find me?" Angela asked sounding confused.

As if on cue, the slow song started to play. "Someone told me you had never had a slow dance before. I thought you could use a good first experience." He said taking her hand and leading.

Miguel could see her face getting red and feel her hands shaking from the excitement, although clearly she was nervous. Had she really never danced before? Plagg was right, Angela needed this. She needed to have the chance to experience the good and fun things in life.

When at last, the song ended, everyone began to dance lively again. Angela did the best she could to thank Miguel without blabbering.

"It was no big deal." Miguel said with his usual smile. "And hey, don't worry, Ladybug and Cat Negro will be here, I promise."

"Thanks." Angela said not sounding entirely reassured.

"I'm gonna go get some punch, be right back." Miguel said heading off to look for a place to transform.

At last he found a cavity in the ice wall that was deep enough for him to get out of sight and make sure that no one saw him transform into Cat Negro.

"Plagg, Claws Out!" he said. In a flash, he stood as Cat Negro. Slipping out of the cavity in the ice, he scaled the wall and ran for the DJ table using his rod to stop the music by smashing it into the sound system.

"Sorry to crash your party." Cat Negro said swinging his rod.

"You will not bust up my party!" Thrill Chill shouted pulling out his ice gun.

Just as it looked like, he was cornered, Ladybug appeared at the top of the ice wall just as Cat Negro was about to frozen, blocking the blast with a swing of her yo-yo.

"Sorry for being tardy to the party. My invitation must have gotten lost in the mail." She snarked.

"Good to see you mi senora." Cat Negro grinned.

"Why y'all gotta be such haters?" Thrill Chill asked harshly.

"You froze all the adults in the city and now you're freezing anybody who isn't having fun." Cat Negro answered.

"You both need to chill out!" Thrill Chill said pointing his gun at Ladybug and Cat Negro and began shooting blasts of ice.

Ladybug and Cat Negro began dancing and dodging while trying to deflect the blasts. Once it looked like they could catch their breath, they began to feel the ice swarming them like bees. All at once, they found themselves trapping in an ice block.

"Now give me your miraculouses before you freeze." Thrill Chill demanded.

"Dream on Chill." Ladybug snapped.

"What party poopers, just like adults."

"Kids need their parents!" Cat Negro declared.

"Wrong-o! Kids need freedom, relax and chill out. All adults do is nag and control."

"But parents care for their kids, they love them." Cat Negro defended.

"Most parents anyway." He heard Ladybug muttered to herself. "You need to let the adults go!" she shouted.

"Fat chance, but I'll tell you what, if you care about these adults so much, why don't you go chill with them for a while." Thrill Chill said pointing his gun and blasted the ice block sending it sliding across a path of ice picking up speed.

Ladybug and Cat Negro began trying to break the ice, literally with their weapons. But they weren't getting anywhere.

"Use your cataclysm." Ladybug said getting Cat Negro's attention.

"Couldn't you've said that 100 miles per hour ago?" Cat Negro remarked.

"We can't stay trapped inside this ice berg together forever." She objected.

Cat Negro realized what she had just said and flashed that smile he had used on her so many times before with the thought that eventually it would work on her. Though her reaction was the same as the last several times, he did as she asked.

"Cataclysm!" he summoned.

With a touch, the ice block shattered and Ladybug and Cat Negro took a harsh tumble as they slide across the icy road as they tried to stop. But finally, they managed to stop and pick themselves up.

"You okay mi senora?" Cat Negro asked helping Ladybug to her feet.

"I'm fine, but need to get to Thrill Chill's ice gun, that's gotta be where the akuma is." Ladybug said getting to her feet.

With a beep from his ring, Cat Negro and Ladybug knew that they had to hurry. Running as fast as they could past frozen people, cars and other things caught in Thrill Chill's wrath, they finally made it back to Thrill Chill's ice fortress.

"Maybe it's time for you to thaw out." Ladybug said as they reached the wall. "No one wants to party with you anymore Thrill Chill." She said as the rest of the people trapped inside started to cheer for her and Cat Negro.

"Well maybe they'll enjoy this." Thrill Chill said freezing everyone in ice blocks and then sending them flying. "The North Pole's the next stop for your precious peps and they're never coming back." He threatened.

Now they really didn't have a lot of time. Ladybug and Cat Negro led Thrill Chill toward the only place that would give them any kind of advantage, Madam Susan's Saunas. Once inside, Cat Negro warned Ladybug he was going to switch back soon.

"Lucky Charm!" she summoned. What appeared was thermos.

"Cat Negro, you're a cool cat, get to him into the sauna." She said running for the hot water valve.

Filling the thermos, she raced to get inside before Cat Negro could close the door. Once in, Cat Negro could only watch through all the steam as Ladybug tangled with Thrill Chill With all the steam, he saw that she had the advantage to get the drop on him. With the hot water in the thermos, she incapacitated him enough to get ahold of his ice gun and break it. Cat Negro opened the doors as the steam started to subside. As the door opened, a small black moth fluttered out of the broken gun.

"No more terrorizing for you moth." Ladybug said preparing her yo-yo for the capture. "Time to be purified." She said with a twirl capturing the akuma inside. "Be free little butterfly." She said releasing the purified akuma. "Miraculous Ladybug." She said tossing the thermos, repairing the damage to the city and freeing the people.

Derek turned back to normal and seem confused, but otherwise alright, much to their relief.

"Ole!" Ladybug and Cat Negro said together as they congratulated each other for their efforts.

With another beep, Cat Negro bid his lady farewell and quickly raced back for his house. As his transformation wore off, he raced in and saw that his father had been dethawed and was alright.

"Dad!" he said racing to hug his father.

"Son!" Sheriff Willis said embracing him. "I'm so glad that you're okay."

"Me too Dad." Miguel said squeezing him tighter.

The next day, Miguel met up with Derek and his girlfriend Abbey to ask how Angela liked her birthday.

"Angela told us last night that you really helped her have the best birthday ever. You really showed some awesomeness in keeping your promise dude." Derek said high fiveing Miguel.

"Thanks." Miguel said as he headed inside.

When Angela came in for class, he saw that she was smiling. As class started, she looked at him with that beautiful smile that everybody loved so much.

'Yeah, she definitely deserved it.' Miguel thought smiling back. 'Happy Birthday Angela.'


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Angela stood nervously in the dark alleyway with Brock at their latest trade that evening. Her heart was pounding and her hands sweating. She hated doing this, but this time her father did threaten her with her education, but with her friends. If she didn't do this, then Derek and Abbey, even Miguel would be in danger from her father. As always, he was making sure she never had any other choice. She was grateful however that she was able to forward the information to Derek before Brock caught her with what she was doing. It was way too close this time, maybe Derek was right and she needed to come forward and tell the police the one acting as the mole was her and tell them where they could find her father. But she quickly talked herself out of it by convincing herself that she needed time to get her father to see that all this wasn't the answer to getting over her mother's death.

As she debated in her mind over and over what she should do, she suddenly saw headlights flood the alley way. She shielded her eyes and tried to see who it was that had pulled up. The person behind the wheel stepped out and walked toward them. Angela couldn't see his face, but she did recognize his voice.

"You have what we agreed on?" she heard him say to Brock.

"Yes." Brock answered. "Scarlet." He said turning to her.

She stepped forward and handed their client the duffel bag of drugs he had asked for. As she got closer, her suspicions of who he was were confirmed when she got a half decent look at as his face when she handed him the bag. It was Jacob Corrine, Jezebel's older brother. Angela couldn't believe it, she knew that Jezebel and her brother had problems, but she never would have guessed that this was one of them. However her problem got worse as soon as Jacob recognized her. Jacob grabbed her wrist and squeezed it.

"What are you doing here?" he sneered at her.

Angela didn't answer. Brock came forward and tore Jacob's hand off her.

"If you breathe one word about this to my mom or my sister, you'll wish the police had gotten to you before me." He threatened turning back to his car.

"You know him?" Brock asked they got into their own car.

"He's Jezebel Corrine's older brother Jacob." Angela answered still in shock.

Now Angela knew she was in trouble. By now the cops were probably already tailing Jacob and he had no idea that it was already too late to try and run. And they struck a deal with him, there was no guarantee that he wouldn't sell her out. She was doomed. The entire ride home, Angela could not find anything else to say, mainly because the whole time she was praying that Jacob would not get caught, for once she hoped that one of her father's clients wouldn't get caught. As soon as they got home, she ran up to her room and switch on the tv.

"Are going to be okay Angela?" Tikki asked flying out of her purse.

"As soon as I find out if they caught Jacob tonight or not I will be." Angela answered.

"What are the odds that the one you'd be trading with tonight was Jezebel's older brother."

"I wish I could guess but I cannot even keep my mind straight right now. If the police do catch him and he cuts a deal with him, there is no guarantee that he won't sell me out." Angela said with her body shaking.

"You did the right thing Angela, you know that." Tikki said sitting on her shoulder.

"Yeah I know, but I still feel so scared right now I feel like I'm going to throw up." Angela said trying to hold back the tears.

"And now more on the developing story of the NYPD's high speed chase and drug bust tonight. Officals have told us that the recipient of the Angeles Diablos tonight was none other than Jaqueline Corrine's oldest son, Jacob. We are not sure what his motive for the drugs is but we have been told that Jacob has cut a deal with the police to provide them with a name of one of the runners of the Angeles Diablos." Angela heard the report say over the tv, and hearing that made her heart stop.

"Currently Jacob Corrine is being held and questioned, but we are told that Ms. Corrine will be arriving at the station shortly to see her son. Back to you Susan."

Angela clicked off the tv and did not move for the longest time. "What am I going to do Tikki? If Jacob sells me out there's nothing I'll be able to do." Angela sobbed.

"Angela, it's all going to be alright, just stay positive." Tikki encouraged.

"I'm trying, I really am, but I'm so scared right now I just can't keep a straight thought." Angela said flopping down on the bed.

"What's done is done, right now, you need to get some sleep. You'll be okay Angela, trust me." Tikki said trying as hard as Angela was to be positive.

Angela got into her pajamas and slid under the covers, covering herself completely with Tikki under the covers with her. Angela was starting to feel that Derek was right, she should have gone forward when she had the chance. She had the hardest time falling asleep that night, so much so that she couldn't get up to go for her usual morning run. When she finally got up, she went and got ready for her classes that day. Though the shower did help her wake up, she didn't feel any more at ease. Finally, she was out the door and waiting for the bus.

"Angela, if Jacob was going to tell them, don't you think they would have come for you by now?" Tikki said poking her head out.

"I'm not sure, even if he didn't tell them, he still knows that I'm working with the Angeles Diablos, even if I am the one passing information to the police." Angela said rubbing her temples. "Oh the stress, it's driving me crazy."

"You've saved the world under stress, and think about it, if you can make it through this, anything else you come up against as Ladybug should be a piece of cake." Tikki said trying to bring Angela's mind to ease.

"You're right Tikki." Angela said rubbing her eyes. "I need to calm down, this all going to work out." She breathed.

As she got on to the bus, she started using the breathing exercises her grandmother had taught her to deal with stress. With each inhale and exhale, Angela began to feel better until she could no longer think about why she had been so upset. As the bus pulled up to the campus, Angela began to feel better, despite her fear of Jacob knowing that she was working with the Angeles Diablos.

"Angela, hey." She turned around and saw Miguel standing behind her.

"Hey." She said very nervously.

"I was wondering if you're doing okay?" he asked looking at her.

"I'm fine, why do you ask?"

"Well, you just looked pretty freaked out. Everything okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, just didn't sleep well last night. It was a long night." Angela answered trying to not to lie but not tell him too much either.

"Well, I hope you have a better day." Miguel said he walked off.

"Thanks." Angela breathed feeling her heart flutter. "He's so sweet." She sighed with a love struck look in her eyes.

"Girl, you have got to learn to control your emotions." Tikki said with a giggle and a sigh.

Suddenly, Angela's phone began to vibrate. When looked at the contact, it was not good news. It was her father.

"This can't be good." Angela breathed. "Hello?" she answered.

"You will be going with Brock and Josh again tomorrow morning for the next trade." She heard her father's voice instruct her.

"But Dad, I have something important going on up at school tomorrow morning." Angela protested. "Can't you get one of your thugs to do it?"

"If you want to continue to go to school to do this 'important thing', you will do as I say." Isaac threatened.

"Dad,"

"End of discussion." The call ended and Angela was left listening to the dial tone.

"What's wrong?" Tikki asked hearing her concern during the call.

"My father wants me to join Josh and Brock for another trade going on tomorrow morning, and that wouldn't be too much of a problem if it weren't for the fact that tomorrow morning is the unveiling of the Ladybug and Cat Negro statues in Central Park." Angela answered feeling her stress and frustration returning.

"You'll figure something out Angela." Tikki said calmly. "Right now you should really be getting to class."

"You're right, I'll worry about all this later." Angela said racing off.

When Angela entered the room, she saw Jezebel sitting in her usual spot but not looking as tight and self-absorbed as usual. Today, she looked like she was a mess. Did she know what happened with her brother? Swallowing her pride, Angela walked over to her desk.

"Hey, you okay?" She asked trying to be as casual as possible.

"Why should you care?" Jezebel snapped.

"Just wanted to see if you were okay, you don't seem like yourself." Angela answered trying to hold herself together.

"Well, it's none of your business. So why don't you just go and scram." Jezebel snapped at her.

Angela sighed with agitation and went and took her seat by Abbey. "What's up with Jezebel?" she asked quietly.

"Jacob was busted last night by the cops for possession of illegal drugs. Needless to say, neither she nor their Mom has taken it well. Word is he was trying to make a deal but he was so hopped up on the narcotics the police questioned his credibility for any information he claimed to have." Abbey answered.

"So he's not going to make a deal?"

"My guess is that even if he tries later, the police won't hold anything he would give as credible because by the time they caught him he was so out of it they would automatically assume he dreamed it or something."

'There's that relief.' Angela breathed. "So what's going to happen to him?"

"Not sure, but whatever happens to him, it's not going to sit well with Jezebel. You know how close she and her brother were."

"Yeah, I know. I think he was the only one she didn't treat like dirt." Angela commented.

A short time later, the professor entered and the class began. All the while, Angela was thanking her lucky stars that the police wouldn't take Jacob seriously, so she was safe for now. But she still had a problem, the unveiling was tomorrow morning and her father was asking her to go on a drug trade that same morning. All during class she tried to focus, but she was too busy searching for solutions for how she could make it to the unveiling and keep her father happy. She groaned mentally and was finding it so hard to balance being Ladybug and Angela Martinez.

By the time classes were over for the day, Angela felt so overwhelmed she felt she was on the verge of collapse. What could she do? As she was arriving home on the bus, she had the thought to go see Ms. Roland. Maybe Ms. Roland would know what she should do. After the bus dropped her off, she walked down the street to the kind old lady's house. When she got there however, she saw home nurses leaving.

"Is Ms. Roland okay?" she asked feeling very concerned for her.

"She's fine, we just got done with her treatment is all. She's resting now and it would not be good for her to have visitors at this time." One of the nurses advised her.

"How long until I can see her?" Angela asked.

"Just until tomorrow." Came the answer. "Everything's fine, just let her rest."

Angela sighed and then started her walk home. When she got to her house, she went upstairs and shut the door. She laid down her purse and Tikki came flying out. Angela laid out a plate of cookies for her and switched on her radio as she sat down to do her homework. Half way through her calculous work, she got a call from Derek telling her to turn on the tv and then the call just ended. Angela was confused, but she switched off her radio and turned on her tv. What came up was news report regarding Jacob.

"…and officials have confirmed that Jacob Corrine had been doing trades with the cartel known as the Angeles Diablos and distributing to a handful of other local pubs in exchange for information on the whereabouts of another cartel known as the Chupacabras. We're not told if a deal has been made or not, but we will bring more information as it is given to us."

Angela was getting more and more nervous about this whole thing with Jacob. What the police did take him seriously? They would come after her and she would have to tell them the truth. She was just hoping and praying that it wouldn't come to that. Trying to take her mind off of the issue, she turned the tv off, switched the radio back on and got back to her calculous homework. As she finished, she started to feel hungry herself.

"I'm just going to down stairs to cook dinner Tikki." She said heading for the door. "Just stay up here and I'll be back."

'Taco Tuesday.' She chimed in her head as she headed downstairs to the kitchen. 'Maybe this will help me convince Dad to let have go on the trade tomorrow morning. Besides, why does he really need me to go?' she thought as she started up the stove to brown the meat.

Just as she was just about to add all their favorite spices, Josh entered the kitchen. "What are you doing?" he asked drily.

"Making dinner, it's taco Tuesday." She answered.

"Dad and I are not in the mood for taco. We already ate."

"But we always have taco Tuesday." Angela said feeling disappointed. "I've already browned the meat and everything."

"Just give the meat to the dogs then. We're not going to need it."

"But,"

"Just do it." Josh said before leaving Angela feeling hurt and bitterly disappointed.

Grabbing the pan, she walked out to the backyard and called her father's dog, Rough and Tough. Two Rottweilers both with bad tempers. She set the pan down and was heading back inside when she heard them coming after her. For some reason they always had it in for her and they were more or less the reason she didn't particularly like dogs. Because of them, she was more of a cat person. Running back inside, she grabbed an apple and went back up to her room.

"I thought you were making dinner for your family." Tikki said as she was coming in.

"I was, and then Josh came in and said that he and Dad had already eaten and basically ordered me to feed the meat I had just cooked to the dogs." Angela answered taking a bite out of her apple. "I swear I hate those dogs."

"Why?"

"Ever since I was a kid those dogs have been trying to eat me alive. They're the reason I prefer cats." Angela huffed sitting back at her desk to finish her homework. "For a ladybug I'm not feeling very lucky today."

"Then it's a good thing your partner is a cat." Tikki giggled.

Angela had to admit it was pretty funny, but she just wasn't feeling in the mood for laughs. She finished her homework and got ready for bed. As she got into bed, she realized she still hadn't found an answer to her problem for the fact the unveiling was tomorrow and her father still wanted her to go on a trade that same morning. She kept looking for solutions until her eyes got heavy and she couldn't even think anymore. When she woke up again, she looked at her clock and saw that she only had half an hour to get ready to go on the trade. She quickly showered and threw on the first outfit she could grab and raced down stairs to meet up with Brock and Josh.

'This is going to be a long day.' She groaned as she got in the car and took the duffel bag that Josh handed her.

All the time she rode in the back seat, all she could think about was how she was going to be late for the unveiling if not miss it completely. At last they finally made it to the drop off point and Angela was told to stay in the car. Josh took the duffel bag and he and Brock met up with the client. While they were gone, Angela texted the information to Derek and hoped she wasn't too late. A minute later, Derek texted back saying he got it and he would get it to the police.

When they got back to the house, Angela quickly hide upstairs in her room, transformed into Ladybug and started off as fast as she could to Central Park. But by the time she got there, it was all over.

"Oh no, I missed it." She sad with sadness and disappointment in her voice. "Nothing I can do now except go home and get ready for school I guess." She said taking a good look at the statue. "If I could've made it, I could've told Michael how well a job he did. He really does have talent."

When she got home, changed back and grabbed her bag and headed downstairs to catch the bus. As she got onboard, she pulled out her phone and called Abbey.

"Hey girl, what's up?" Abbey answered.

"Hey, I'm sorry I couldn't make it to the unveiling this morning, family issues you know. I know I promised I would be there with you and Derek, but I was hoping you would have taken pics for me."

"You know it girl." Abbey answered not sounding too disappointed in her.

"Oh good, so could you show them to me before class today?"

"Actually we won't be there."

"Why?"

"We're at the Museum natural science and history waiting for more details on the Cat Negro robbery."

"What? Somebody robbed Cat Negro?" Angela asked shocked.

"No, didn't you hear? Cat Negro came in and stole The Scream. Ladybug is going to show up for sure and there is no way Derek and I are missing this. We'll show the pics tomorrow, promise."

"Okay, thanks." Angela said hanging up. She grabbed the bell cord and signaled the driver she needed to get off.

The bus stopped and she got off and headed behind the first building she came to.

"What are thinking Angela?" Tikki asked when they were safe.

"I'm thinking Cat Negro is a lot of things but a thief is not one of them. Some has obviously set him up and we're going to find out who." She said. "Tikki, Spots On." In flash, she stood as Ladybug and started making her way to the museum.

By the time she got there, there were cops and squad cars everywhere. Sheriff Willis was coming outside reporting that they had Cat Negro locked up inside.

"Don't think that you're going to keep him there." She said trying to go in.

"Leave this to the police this time Ladybug." Sheriff Willis said stopping her.

"There must be some mistake, I'm sure there's a simple explanation for this." She argued.

Suddenly, Sheriff Willis got a call over his radio that Cat Negro was escaping. Ladybug followed him inside. When they made it to the place where Cat Negro was supposed to be held, they saw the guards on the ground and some knocked out, and Cat Negro gone.

"If he's so innocent, why's he running?" Sheriff Willis asked Ladybug.

"If you were wrongfully imprisoned wouldn't you run?" Ladybug snapped back.

As Sheriff Willis radioed for backup, Ladybug got call come through on her communicator. "Cat Negro where are you?" she asked heavily concerned.

"You know I'm innocent, don't you mi amor." He asked over the video chat.

"Stop playing around and calling me mi amor. What's going on?" she said trying to get him to get to the point.

"I'm gonna find the guy who framed me and save my tail. I'll call you back as soon as …" suddenly the communication was cut.

Ladybug raced outside to see Cat Negro being chased by squad cars and choppers and then disappearing into the subway tunnels. She wanted to follow him, but she couldn't lead the police to him. This was something she had to do on her own if she wanted to save her partner. Swinging across the roof tops, she kept searching for any signs that Cat Negro came out of the subway tunnels. Her communicator started to go off again.

"Cat Negro, what's going on?" she asked feeling worried.

"I found his den." Cat Negro answered quietly.

"Who?"

"My Dupli-Cat." He answered.

"I'm not following." Ladybug said confused.

"If you had been there this morning you would know what I was talking about."

"Just tell me where you are." Ladybug said feeling like she was begging him at this point.

"No, this is between me and him. I got myself into this mess and now I'm going to get myself out." Cat Negro answered before hanging up.

"Cat Negro, Cat!" Ladybug called agitated.

Seeing that she was not going to get him to answer, she switched on her tracker and began to follow his signal across the city. About a minute later she got a call from Cat Negro saying he caught the imposter.

"Michael Norman's workshop."

"I'll be there in a minute." She said hanging up.

As promised, she arrived a minute later at Michael Norman's art studio and saw Cat Negro and apparently the one who was his imposter chained up and on the ground but was quite surprised to see the resemblance.

"Wow Cat Negro, he really looks like you." She breathed.

"That's because I am me." The Cat Negro on the ground said agitated.

"Where's his akuma?" she asked the other Cat.

"In his ring, take it." He said showing her his hand.

For moment, she questioned herself if this really was her partner or if the one she was about to de-akmatize was him. She was about to take the ring when she saw the paw pads start to flash and disappear.

"He even has the same powers as you." She said suspicious.

"Incredible isn't it?" the one on top said with a smile.

"If you don't believe I'm the real Cat Negro ask him about our love for each other." The Cat on the ground whispered to her catching her by surprise. What was he talking about? "Have I ever lied to you mi amor?" he winked.

He was right, only the real Cat Negro would never lie to her about anything, no matter what. Leaning in closer to the Cat on top, she smiled.

"I hope you didn't tell him about us." She smiled. "Remember, we made a secret promise."

"Yeah of course I remember." The other guy answered nervously.

"We never made a promise, Dupli-Cat!" she said. Now she knew which one was really her partner.

"I love you Ladybug and I'm so much better for you than this mangy alley cat." Dupli-Cat confessed grabbing Cat Negro.

"Sorry, but I'm not into liars. Cat Negro may be annoying but he's never lied to me." Ladybug said defending her partner.

"Thanks, I think." Cat Negro said kicking his imposter off him. "Gracias for having my back."

"Let's wrap this up." Ladybug answered. "Lucky Charm!" she summoned. What appeared was coat hanger. "What am I supposed to do with this?"

"If I can't have you then no one will." Dupli-Cat declared. "Cataclysm!" he summoned moving for Cat Negro.

Taking his chains, Ladybug moved between him and Cat Negro making Dupli-Cat break the chains instead. Cat Negro was now free and knocked Dupli-Cat back.

"Where's his akuma?" she asked.

"Photo in his pocket." His ring beeped again. "Let's make this rápido."

"You're going to change back before me." Dupli-Cat laughed.

Ladybug was able to make the first move, but she quickly saw that this was not going to be easy if he had all the powers and abilities as Cat Negro, especially if he had his weapon and Cat Negro's. He forced into a corner and was about to strike but Cat Negro had he back as he pulled him back. Ladybug then tried to wrap her yo-yo around him but he deflected it and tried to catch her again but she was able to make it to the rafters in the ceiling.

"He really is good." She said catching her breath.

"No need to rub it in." Cat Negro answered agitated.

"I told you I was better than him." Dupli-Cat called to her.

"But I'm better than both of you." She chimed taking advantage of his distraction by taking back Cat Negro's rod and tossing back to her partner.

But again they both proved that they were too evenly matched and with one blow, their rods were knocked aside and left to fight hand to hand. Coming down from the rafters, Ladybug lost track of which was which. As one tried to strike the other, she literally took a shot in the dark and caught him before he could strike.

"Hey it's me!" he odjected.

"No, I'm the real one."

"Ugggh! Now you're both being annoying." Ladybug groaned. "Show me your ring, how many pads do you have left?" she said.

The one closest to her showed he barely had two minutes, the one she caught. The other had four.

"Cat Negro, scratch attack." She said releasing him.

"Sounds good, I love a good cat fight." He purred.

Pulling out the coat hanger, she looked around and got an idea. Grabbing Cat Negro's rod and a rol of tape, she attached her yo-yo to the rod and bent the hanger the fit through the ring at the end of the string.

"I always wanted to go fishing." She said with a smile.

Cat Negro cornered Dupli-Cat under a catwalk, and Ladybug was able to cast her line and hook Dupli-Cat by his belt and pull him up. Throwing herself under the catwalk, she grabbed the photo out of his pocket and landed by Cat Negro, tearing the photo. When the akuma emerged, she readied her yo-yo for the capture.

"No more terrorizing for you moth." She said opening her yo-yo. "Time to be purified." She said capturing it. "Be free little butterfly." She breathed releasing the white butterfly. "Miraculous Ladybug!" she called as the glow traveled repairing damages and canceling Dupli-Cat's transformation as he fell from the catwalk.

Cat Negro was able to catch him before he hit the ground. "Nice catch." Ladybug praised him.

"I'm just glad you could tell the real cat from the fake one." Cat Negro said in thanks.

"Once I figured out which Cat Negro loved me enough to not lie to me, it was a no brainer." She smiled.

"I have to go, you better stay, I think he's been crushed by his crush." Cat Negro said as his ring beeped showing he had less than a minute.

Ladybug turned her attention to Michael as he started to come to. "Ladybug?" he said as his vision started to return.

"I'm sorry I couldn't make it this morning." She said handing him his photo back.

"Can I have you autograph it for me?" he asked handing her a pin.

"Of course." She said giving it her Ladybug signature. "You know you did an amazing job, you really captured my essence." She praised him.

"Thanks Ladybug." Michael answered hugging the photo close. "And I know about you and Cat Negro, and it's okay."

Ladybug was confused at what he was talking about, but all she could do was smile and say goodbye as she heard her earrings start to beep. She waved good bye and made her way home just barely in time before she changed back. As she entered her room, she felt better that she was able to thank Michael Norman for all his hard work in making her statue and Cat Negro's. But she remembered she had another problem. Had Jacob been able to cut a deal with the police or not about her?

Switching on the tv as Tikki ate, she listened as the reporters talked about the latest developments on Jacob's case.

"…and the police have made it known that Jacob Corrine will be facing charges for drug possession with the intent to sell. He has refused to make a plea deal for the reason that he refuses to plead guilty in exchange for a lesser sentence. Authorities are baffled by this and continue to try and get information out Mr. Corrine as we speak. More on this story still to come."

"That sounds like Jezebel's brother alright." Angela said switching off the tv.

"But why wouldn't he take a deal if he knows he has something on you?" Tikki asked.

"I don't know but I don't like it. But if he hasn't told anything to the police, it's because he now has an advantage on me and he plans to use that somewhere down the road. Can't say when or for what, something tells me it's not going to be good and this will definitely not be the last we hear about this." Angela answered sitting by her desk. "I missed school today and Abbey and Derek weren't there to take notes. I'm going to be in so much crude." Angela groaned.

"It's going to be alright. You had to help Cat Negro."

"I know, and I'm happy I was able to help him, but still, there are some days where it's so hard to balance being Angela and being Ladybug."

"It's all going to work out Angela, trust me." Tikki smiled.

Angela smiled back and rubbed her kwami's head. "Thanks Tikki, you always know how to make me feel better."


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

(Day of unveiling)

Miguel's alarm went off waking him up around 6 in the morning. Groggy as he was, he quickly showered and dressed. He was excited about this morning, today was the morning of the unveiling of Ladybug and Cat Negro's statues. The only thing he was more excited about than that was seeing his senora at the unveiling. After getting ready for school after the unveiling, he transformed and began making his way quickly to Central Park. When he got here, Ladybug wasn't there, but Michael Norman, the sculptor was along with half the city. As much as Cat Negro loved the attention, he was disappointed to see Ladybug wasn't there.

"Cat Negro, do you know where Ladybug is?" Michael leaned over and asked him.

"No, but I'll be enough for now." Cat Negro said trying to hide his disappointment.

"It's just I wanted to ask her to autograph the picture I used as inspiration for her statue." Michael said holding out the photo he had taken of her the week before when he had her and Cat Negro pose for positions.

"Don't worry, I'm sure she'll be here." Cat Negro said.

"Maybe we should go ahead and start, it might bring her faster." Mayor Harrison suggested looking around for her.

"Please, Mr. Mayor, just a little longer. She's going to come I can feel it." Michael begged.

Cat Negro scanned up and down the sight line along the trees for another few minutes, but there was no sign of Ladybug. Five minutes later, Mayor Harrison started the ceremony.

"It is only appropriate that we, the citizen of New York city pay tribute to our city's great protectors, Ladybug and Cat Negro." Mayor Harrison announced as the statues were unveiled.

As Cat Negro looked around, he hoped for at least a last minute appearance from Ladybug, but she didn't come, not even when the crowds finally started to die down. Michael was the only one that stayed behind longer than anyone.

"These statues are amazing." Cat Negro complimented Michael.

"Ladybug didn't show up." Michael said disappointed. "I just want her to know that everything I had went into her statue. I wanted her to know what it is she is to me, and I'm sure if she knew, she would find that maybe she and I belonged together."

Cat Negro felt a flare of hot agitation burn in his face. "Hey hate to burst your bubble, but you know that Ladybug and I, we're a thing."

"Really?" Michael asked looking surprised.

"Yeah, we're so enamorado ." Cat Negro said giving him a smug grin.

Michael shoved him off and stormed off in a huff. Cat Negro said he may have gone a bit far, but he was not about to let someone else move in on his senora. He watched as Michael stalked off and finally made his way home to finish getting ready for school. As he was walking up he heard the same story in everyone's conversation.

"What's going on?" he asked Martin when they met up at the door.

"Haven't you heard, Cat Negro went into the Museum of Natural Science and History and stole the Scream." Martin said showing him the news feed.

Miguel was in shock at what he was seeing. He saw a Cat Negro in the museum, but it was not him, he hadn't even been anywhere near the museum that morning. He watched as the feed showed another video of the robbery.

"This painting is the cat's meow." The fake purred racing out the door.

'Cat's meow?' Miguel thought in shock. "I've gotta go to the bathroom." Miguel said quickly running in. 'Not only is this guy a fake, he's a terrible fake.' He thought in disgust.

Once he was safe in the bathroom, he transformed and quietly slipped out the window and headed for the museum. When he got there, he saw his father there along with half the police force guarding the museum. As soon as they saw him, they had their weapons drawn.

"Whoa easy guys, I'm not who you think I am. The one who got away was an imposter, I'm the real Cat Negro." He said making his way down. "I came to help you catch this guy. I have knack for this kind of thing, you know animal instincts." He said to his father.

"Follow me." Sheriff Willis answered. "Thank you Cat Negro."

Inside, Sheriff Willis showed him to the art hall where the robbery took place. Cat Negro stepped in and looked around. What caught his eye was something the police would have over looked but looked all too familiar to him. Because he had seen it earlier that morning. A lollipop-stick with a ladybug on the tip. Suddenly he heard the laser wall activate at the entrance, locking him inside.

"Hey, I told you I'm the real Cat Negro, I'm so much cooler than that guy." Cat Negro yelled feeling outraged.

Sheriff Willis pretended not to listen as he headed back outside. Cat Negro knew he only had one way out.

"Cataclysm!" he summoned.

Taking a leap, he swiped the laser points and they each popped, one by one until the laser wall came down and he was able to make his escape. He raced further up the stairs and out the windows of the domed ceiling. Taking a hiding spot behind the pillars around the outer rim, he pulled out his communicator and called Ladybug.

Ladybug, thankfully, picked up. As Sheriff Willis radioed for backup, Ladybug got call come through on her communicator. "Cat Negro where are you?" she asked heavily concerned.

"You know I'm innocent, don't you mi amor." He asked over the video chat.

"Stop playing around and calling me mi amor. What's going on?" she said sounding truly concerned for him.

"I'm gonna find the guy who framed me and save my tail. I'll call you back as soon as …" He was unable to finish as he heard a chopper coming up from behind him.

He took off trying to lose him, but they these guys were proving persistent. Finally, he lost them by slipping into the subway and quickly changing back. Heading up through another entrance, he hid behind another building and opened his jacket to talk to Plagg.

"If you want my opinion, I'd say the thief was akumatized." Plagg said swallowing another piece of camembert.

"Pretty much figure that one out." Miguel said thinking about what he had found in the museum. "See that lollipop-stick?" he said holding it up. "I saw it this morning, Michael Norman, the sculptor. I should've known. How did I not see that jealousy coming a mile away?"

"Yours or his?" Plagg joked.

"Haha, very funny." Miguel said pushing Plagg down and then finding a safer place to transform.

Once he was transformed he quickly made his way to Michael Norman's workshop. Glancing inside, he knew he was in the right place seeing a shrine made for Ladybug.

"Te tengo Dupli-Cat." Cat Negro grinned.

He pulled out his communicator for another call to Ladybug. "Cat Negro, what's going on?" she asked sounding worried.

"I found his den." he answered quietly.

"Who?"

"My Dupli-Cat." He answered.

"I'm not following." Ladybug said sounding confused.

"If you had been there this morning you would know what I was talking about." Cat Negro answered not meaning to guilt trip her.

"Just tell me where you are." Ladybug said sounding like she begging him.

"No, this is between me and him. I got myself into this mess and now I'm going to get myself out." Cat Negro answered before hanging up.

As he made his way inside, he noticed a note on a box in the center of the studio. Opening it, he read the note.

"Cat's got caught?" he read confused.

Out of nowhere, the box opened and chains clamped around his wrists. As he pulled at the chains, he was wondering aggravated how he was constantly getting himself caught today.

"Cataclysm!" he summoned. But just as he was about to destroy the chains, he felt someone grab his arm and direct his cataclysm to a board, wasting it.

When he got a look at them, he saw his doppleganger, or rather, his Dupli-Cat.

"What Ladybug sees in you I'll never understand, you a fool who fell so easily into my trap." Dupli-Cat snickered. "Although what she sees I don't care. Because soon, things between you and her will be over."

Cat Negro tried to grab his weapon but when he reached behind him, his rod was gone.

"Looking for something? Which should I use, mine or mine?" Dupli-Cat said holding up two rods, his and Cat Negros.

Cat Negro's communicator rang again, it was Ladybug looking for him.

"Ladybug, I caught my copycat, Michael Norman's workshop." Dupli-Cat answered.

"I'll be there in a minute." She said hanging up.

"No Ladybug don't! It's a trap!" Cat Negro tried to warn her but it was too late, she hung up and Dupli-Cat stood there grinning darkly.

"Too late, Ladybug is on her way which was my plan from the start." Dupli-Cat laughed.

"She won't be fooled, she knows me too well." Cat Negro said full of confidence in his senora.

"I know you well too, but from now on, Ladybug will love me and not you." Dupli-Cat said looking at the photo of Ladybug where Cat Negro figured out the akuma must have been hidden.

"Right, she loves me, which is why she'll be able to see right through you." Cat Negro shot back hiding the fact that Ladybug, though she did care about him, she didn't love him.

Dupli-Cat then knocked him to the ground and made a move for his ring, but thankfully, true to her word Ladybug showed up when she said she would.

"There you are." He heard Dupli-Cat say with infatuation in his voice.

"Wow Cat Negro, he really looks like you." She breathed as she approached them both.

"That's because I am me." Cat Negro said agitated.

"Where's his akuma?" she asked Dupli-Cat.

"In his ring, take it." He said showing her his hand.

For moment, she looked like she was hesitating, questioning herself if the one she was talking to really was her partner or if the one she was about to de-akmatize was him. She was about to take the ring when she saw the paw pads start to flash and disappear.

"He even has the same powers as you." She said sounding suspicious.

"Incredible isn't it?" Dupli-Cat said with a smile.

"If you don't believe I'm the real Cat Negro ask him about our love for each other." Cat Negro whispered to her catching her by surprise. "Have I ever lied to you mi amor?" he winked. He knew this was the best way for her to see that he really was him.

He, the only real Cat Negro would never lie to her about anything, no matter what. Leaning in closer to the Cat on top, she smiled.

"I hope you didn't tell him about us." She smiled. "Remember, we made a secret promise."

"Yeah of course I remember." The other guy answered nervously.

"We never made a promise, Dupli-Cat!" she said. Now she knew the truth.

"I love you Ladybug and I'm so much better for you than this mangy alley cat." Dupli-Cat confessed grabbing Cat Negro.

"Sorry, but I'm not into liars. Cat Negro may be annoying but he's never lied to me." Ladybug said defending her partner.

"Thanks, I think." Cat Negro said kicking his imposter off him. "Gracias for having my back."

"Let's wrap this up." Ladybug answered. "Lucky Charm!" she summoned. What appeared was coat hanger. "What am I supposed to do with this?"

"If I can't have you then no one will." Dupli-Cat declared. "Cataclysm!" he summoned moving for Cat Negro.

Taking his chains, Ladybug moved between him and Cat Negro making Dupli-Cat break the chains instead. Cat Negro was now free and knocked Dupli-Cat back.

"Where's his akuma?" she asked.

"Photo in his pocket." His ring beeped again. "Let's make this rápido."

"You're going to change back before me." Dupli-Cat laughed.

Ladybug was able to make the first move, but she quickly saw that this was not going to be easy if he had all the powers and abilities as Cat Negro, especially if he had his weapon and Cat Negro's. He forced into a corner and was about to strike but Cat Negro had he back as he pulled him back. Ladybug then tried to wrap her yo-yo around him but he deflected it and tried to catch her again but she was able to make it to the rafters in the ceiling.

"He really is good." She said catching her breath.

"No need to rub it in." Cat Negro answered agitated.

"I told you I was better than him." Dupli-Cat called to her.

"But I'm better than both of you." She chimed taking advantage of his distraction by taking back Cat Negro's rod and tossing back to her partner.

But again they both proved that they were too evenly matched and with one blow, their rods were knocked aside and left to fight hand to hand. Coming down from the rafters, it became apparent that Ladybug lost track of which was which. As Cat Negro tried to strike Dupli-Cat, she literally took a shot in the dark and caught him before he could strike.

"Hey it's me!" Cat Negro odjected.

"No, I'm the real one." Dupli-Cat said tried lie to her.

"Ugggh! Now you're both being annoying." Ladybug groaned. "Show me your ring, how many pads do you have left?" she said.

Cat Negro showed he barely had two minutes. Dupli-Cat had four.

"Cat Negro, scratch attack." She said releasing him.

"Sounds good, I love a good cat fight." He purred.

Cat Negro trusted that Ladybug had a plan, she knew him and he knew her. And it was because of this that he trusted her to always have a plan when things got hairy.

"I always wanted to go fishing." He heard her chime catching a glimpse at her make-shift fishing rod.

He didn't know what she was thinking, but he trusted her.

Cat Negro cornered Dupli-Cat under a catwalk, and Ladybug was able to cast her line and hook Dupli-Cat by his belt and pull him up. Throwing herself under the catwalk, she grabbed the photo out of his pocket and landed by Cat Negro, tearing the photo. When the akuma emerged, she readied her yo-yo for the capture.

"No more terrorizing for you moth." She said opening her yo-yo. "Time to be purified." She said capturing it. "Be free little butterfly." She breathed releasing the white butterfly. "Miraculous Ladybug!" she called as the glow traveled repairing damages and canceling Dupli-Cat's transformation as he fell from the catwalk.

Cat Negro was able to catch him before he hit the ground. "Nice catch." Ladybug praised him.

"I'm just glad you could tell the real cat from the fake one." Cat Negro said in thanks.

"Once I figured out which Cat Negro loved me enough to not lie to me, it was a no brainer." She smiled.

"I have to go, you better stay, I think he's been crushed by his crush." Cat Negro said as his ring beeped showing he had less than a minute. "That makes two of us." He whispered as he looked back before taking off.

As he made it behind the market shop across the street, he realized he had made a big mistake riling up Michael that day. He had let his jealousy get the better of him and it was their jealousy for each other that had caused Hawk Moth to akumatize Michael Norman into Dupli-Cat. As much as he loved Ladybug, it was clear she wasn't going to return his feelings anytime soon. But Cat Negro was not ready to give up on her yet, nor would he ever be. She was his soul mate, she just didn't know it yet. She would fall for him eventually. That's what he would tell himself.

He walked down the street as Plagg ate inside his coat. Not in the mood to take the short way home, he flagged down a taxi and watched as the streets of New York came alive at the mid-day hour. As he arrived at school, he realized he had missed his classes for the day.

"Now what?" he groaned.

Grabbing his book bag from the hall, he headed for the bus stop and caught the next bus home. Safe at home, he went back up to his room and began to wonder how he could possibly balance being Miguel and Cat Negro. But most of all, he wondered if he would ever find out who his red masked beauty was.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Angela sat in her room studying for Literary Arts Exam for the next day. With her favorite band playing over her radio, she found it easier to concentrate and easier to stay awake. Tikki had fallen asleep awhile before, but Angela was finding it hard to even close her eyes. But she knew eventually she was going to have to get some sleep soon if she was going to do good on her exam tomorrow. Finishing her chapter for the night, she closed her notes and trudged to bed tuning her radio off on the way. As she slipped under the covers, she laid down wondering if she really should go forward to the police about what she was doing and about her father.

It had been almost two weeks since the trade with Jacob and Jacob turned the offer to make a deal, a lesser sentence in exchange for information. She knew it was only a matter of time before anyone found out, and she wondered if she would be in as much trouble if she came forward herself instead of being ratted out. As she laid in bed, she rolled it over and over in her mind and came to the decision that if she came across anyone else she knew involved with the trades, then she would go to the police. Finally, Angela felt her eyes getting heavy and she let herself drift off.

" _Angela." She heard her name being called._

 _She looked around and saw that she was standing in a field of bright green grass and a single tree in its best stage of life. She turned and saw a woman standing under the tree._

 _"_ _Angela." She heard again._

 _She followed the voice and quickly jogged up to the tree. As she got closer to the tree, she recognized the woman as her mother._

 _"_ _Mom?" she breathed in disbelief. "But you…"_

 _"_ _No, I'm right here." Her mother said taking Angela in her arms. "I've been right here waiting for you for so long. Don't you remember, we were going to the lake today." Her mother said with a smile._

 _"_ _But I thought…"_

 _"_ _It's okay sweet heart." Angelina said brushing her hair out of her face. "Come on, let's get going, the others are waiting for us."_

 _"_ _Others?" Angela asked confused._

 _"_ _Your father, brother and sister of course."_

 _"_ _I have a sister?" Angela asked even more confused._

 _"_ _Yes, Gloria."_

 _Angela was confused, but she followed her mother through the field until they came to a trail. Angela couldn't explain it, but she felt like this was what her life was meant to be. The life she had always wanted for her and her family. Her mother here with them and her father the loving man he was before. Now it felt all so real, that all she had been through for the past several years had been a dream and now she was awake and back with her family._

 _She felt her grasp on her confused feelings fade the farther she and her mother walked down the trail until they made it to a cliff over-looking a lake. Her mother flashed her a smile and jumped in the lake below to join the others. Angela stood at the edge of the cliff and started to smile and giggle as she watched her family smiling, laughing and splashing below._

 _"_ _Come on Little Angela." She heard father call up to her. "Jump, the water's great."_

 _"_ _We're waiting for you." Josh called holding his arms to catch her._

 _Angela suddenly felt a dark pulse shoot through her and then she saw everything around suddenly taking a darker tone, even her family._

 _"_ _Yes, jump!" she heard her father call._

 _But as she looked down, she saw her family not as her family anymore, but they were now morphing into monsters. Reaching up for her trying to pull her in. Angela tried to turn to run, but she felt something trying to push her in to their reach. She fought to stay out of their reach._

 _"_ _Help! Someone help!" she cried out for someone, anyone to get her out there. "No please, don't!" she kept screaming._

 _She suddenly felt something pull at her from behind, shaking her._

"Angela!" she heard her name being called.

Her eyes snapped open and but she couldn't see straight right away. She continued to thrash trying to get loose. When her vision cleared, she saw that she was standing in front of Cat Negro with his hands holding her arms.

"Angela, it's okay! It's okay." He said gently shaking her.

"I saw them, I saw her, she wanted me to follow her" she spouted frightened, not thinking clearly.

"What? Saw who?" Cat Negro asked concerned.

"I kept seeing faces, so many faces." Angela said on the verge of tears laying her face against Cat Negro's chest.

She felt Cat Negro gently yet firmly hug her. "It's alright, it was only a nightmare. It's over now."

Angela didn't try to push him off right away, in this one moment, in his arms was the only place she felt safe right now. When she felt she could finally think straight, she looked around and saw where she was.

"Where am I?" she asked seeing that she was standing in the middle of a bridge over-looking the Hudson river. "What am I doing here in my pajamas?" she said seeing that she was still in her night clothes.

"You were sleep walking, you were about to walk off the bridge before I caught you." Cat Negro said leading her to a safer spot off the bridge. "You were lucky I was out tonight, you would've been at the bottom of the river for sure if I hadn't seen you walking through the busy streets."

"Sorry, I didn't even know I was sleep walking." She apologized following him. "This has never happened to me before, why now?" she asked trying to make sense of what had just happened to her.

"We can figure that out later, right now we should get you home. Where do you live?" Cat Negro said putting his arm around her waist and hoisting them both up on his rod.

"2110 Concord. The third house on the right surrounded by a gate." She said feeling very awkward with his hold on her.

But seeing how he had just saved her from a watery grave and how they were now up a hundred feet in the air, she couldn't complain.

"Got it. Hang on tight little lady." He said as he started leaping across roof tops with her in his arms.

Angela felt weird being carried like a damsel in distress when she was so used by this point to doing the saving rather than being saved. Below she watched as the buildings rushed below, she finally saw how far she had gotten. She had walked several blocks from her house was halfway down Broadway when she had made it to the bridge.

When they made it to her house, she saw her balcony door was open. 'Tikki must be so worried.' She thought as they landed on her balcony.

"You should be safe for now." Cat Negro said escorting her back in her room.

"Thanks for saving me tonight." Angela said pulling an afghan off her bed and pulling around her shoulders.

"It was no big deal. I better get going." Cat Negro said turning to leave.

"No wait," Angela said taking his wrist. "Please stay here a while." She said still feeling her heart pounding with fear.

Cat Negro looked at her surprised, but said he would stay a while longer. Angela laid back down in bed and Cat Negro asked about her dream. After telling him everything she could remember, Cat Negro asked her if maybe she thought that it couldn't have been just a dream.

"Are you thinking it could have been an akuma?" Angela asked now feeling even more worried.

"It's not what I was going to say but it definitely seems like what happened to you would be an akuma attack." Cat Negro answered rubbing the back of his neck. "Have you had any run ins with anyone lately? Anyone who would want to see you hurt?"

"Only person I could name who would want to make me miserable would be Jezebel, but I sincerely doubt it could be her, not even she would go so far as to try and kill me." Angela answered.

"Okay, I've gotta go looking for whoever this new villain is before he hurts anyone else. But I won't be far if you ever need me again." He said winking at her before closing the door.

Angela sighed in relief. But then she realized something else.

"Tikki? Tikki? Are you here?" she called out quietly.

"Angela!" Tikki called out zipping out from under her pillow. "I was so worried about you. When I saw you walking out on to the balcony and then climbing out and over the fence I didn't know what to do. I'm so glad you're okay."

"Yeah, thanks to Cat Negro. He saved me." Angela said as Tikki flew over and cuddled against Angela's cheek. "He thinks it was another akuma."

"I know, I heard him. I think it was an akuma too. I could feel it." Tikki answered.

"But the question is, who is it and why would they want to do this to me?" Angela said pulling the covers back. "In any case, that cat's gonna need our help to track down this new akuma." Angela said getting out of bed. "Tikki, Spots On." Angela said transforming into Ladybug.

Quietly slipping out her balcony door, she zipped off to follow Cat Negro. No sooner had she made it to Broadway, her communicator started to go off.

"Cat Negro, where are you?" she answered.

"Nice to see you too mi senora." He smiled at her. "I'm at the northern bridge over-looking the Hudson river."

"I'll be there in a minute." Ladybug said closing the communication and quickly making her way across the roof tops back to the bridge Cat Negro had saved her from earlier. When she got there, she saw Cat Negro waiting for her.

"I heard you rescued a damsel in distress earlier tonight." She grinned.

"Yeah, she was just walking as if she was in a dream. Almost got hit by several cars and walked all the way out here to the bridge and would have jumped if I hadn't seen her walking out in traffic and followed her." Cat Negro said staring out at the water.

"So what are we hoping to find here?" Ladybug asked.

"I'm not sure, but after what she told me, I could only guess that whatever it was that made her sleep-walk all the way out here was another akuma." Cat Negro answered.

"Okay, so where do we start? We don't even know why this akuma would be after this girl."

"Maybe not, but we may have a clue." Cat Negro said holding up a feather.

"A feather?" Ladybug asked confused.

"A pheasant feather. Very decorative, and used for many crafts including dream-catchers." Cat Negro said handing it to her.

"A dream-catcher, you think this came from a dream-catcher." Ladybug asked looking at it.

"I know it did, I saw someone running from the bridge just before I stopped that girl from taking the plunge. I didn't think much of it at first, but after I heard about her dream and seeing her walking through traffic all the way here, I began to think that maybe the one I saw running from the bridge may have been the one who lured her out of her home and here. As for why I don't know, but we need to find this thing and stop it before it tries to do the same thing to anyone else." Cat Negro explained.

"Wow, that was very observant and vigilant coming from you." Ladybug said surprised.

"I had a different motivation this time." Cat Negro said actually sounding serious.

"And what motivation would that be?" Ladybug said curiously.

"The girl that I saved tonight was someone I care about, if this thing is after her, I have to stop it before it goes after her again." Cat Negro answered jumping down from the railing.

Ladybug felt her heart miss a beat. Cat Negro knew her normal self? How, did he know who she really was? There would be time for that later, right now they needed to make sure that this new villain was stopped before he tried to hurt anyone else.

"The first thing we should do is track this guy down." Ladybug said looking for any sort of clue where the person Cat Negro saw running away might have run.

"I think I might have found something." Cat Negro said pointing to a faintly glowing pile sand.

"Good job gatito." Ladybug said scratching under Cat Negro's chin.

"Muchos gracias mi senora." He purred.

They followed the trail through the city over roof tops and through the darkest alleyways through the city until the trail stopped in an old warehouse that looked like it was on the verge of collapse.

"Stay close, this place looks like it could give any minute now." Ladybug said slowly slipping in through the window in the roof.

When they got in, a light came on and they saw something that made her heart skip a beat, an anti-shrine for someone she knew all too well. Her father, and whoever made it had a lot of rage. Whoever this new villain was had been following her father for a long time and clearly had some dark vendetta that they needed to settle.

"I think we found who it was this new villain is after." Ladybug said nervously.

"I think so too, the question is, why go after that girl? Who is this?" Cat Negro asked.

"His name is Isaac Martinez. As for why whoever this person would be after him I don't know, but I think I do know why he would go after that girl too."

"Why?"

"That girl you saved is his daughter, Angela Martinez." Ladybug answered feeling her stomach drop mentioning her own name learning that she had a target on her back because of who her father was.

Cat Negro seemed disturbed hearing this too. "But why go after her if it's Mr. Martinez he's after?"

"I can think of no better way to hurt someone than by going after the people close to them." Ladybug answered.

"Well if this akuma is after Mr. Martinez, then odds are he would be heading to his house. Which means our best chance to catch this thing would be to head over there now and make sure he doesn't find what he's looking for." Cat Negro said heading back out.

"Right." Ladybug said following him. "So, tell me, Cat Negro, what's this girl you care about like? Do you like her?"

"Whatever, she's just someone I know and she's great friend. I wouldn't want to see her hurt." Cat Negro explained as they made their way across the city for her house. "I do care about her, but everyone knows that you're my only senora." He grinned at her.

"Of course." Ladybug said trying not to laugh.

So maybe she and Cat Negro did know each other in normal life, but it was important that they stay oblivious to each other's identities. Even if they did know each other, it was important that they not know who they really are.

They finally made it to her house and despite what hour it was, the place was alive with activity.

'Guess father's looking for me.' Ladybug thought as she and Cat Negro made their way to the door.

As they were about to knock, the door opened and they were grabbed and pulled in.

"Back to the scene of the crime." Brock said pointing a gun at Cat Negro. "And you, here to help him finish what he tried to start."

"What are you talking about?" Ladybug said holding her hands up.

"Ms. Angela has been missing since this morning and one of our guards saw him leaving her room around the time she disappeared." Brock said pointing the gun at Cat Negro.

"What, I never hurt her, I was bringing her home. I saved from jumping off the northern bridge into the Hudson river. I brought her home and she was fine when I left." Cat Negro said like he was trying not to lose his cool with a gun at his head.

"If she's missing again it means that whoever lured her out the first time must have come for her again after you left her alone." Ladybug said trying to get Brock to lower the gun. "Where is Mr. Martinez?"

"He's out on business." Brock answered

"Sir, we have reason to believe that the one who took Angela was an akuma but she's not his target. We found his hideout, and we found that the one he's really after is Mr. Martinez." Ladybug explained trying to keep a straight face. "Is there any reason why someone would want to hurt him by means of taking his daughter?"

"With what Mr. Martinez does for a living, I would be surprised if he didn't have any enemies. But if you can really help get Ms. Angela back, I will trust you. But I warn you now, if anything happens to her, if she gets hurt or worse, you will be held responsible too." Brock warned.

"Don't worry sir, we'll bring her back. You have my word." Cat Negro promised in all seriousness that Ladybug didn't think she would hear from him.

All at once, everyone around Ladybug and Cat Negro began to fall asleep.

"What's going on?" Cat Negro asked getting edgy

"I don't know." Ladybug answered.

They suddenly heard a sinister laugh ringing through the front hall. "I'd say sweet dreams, but soon they won't have any left." The voice said. All at once, in a whirl of sand, a man with a dream catcher in his hand. "I am Dream Snatcher and I will find Isaac Martinez."

"Why ae so intent on hurting him? Where's Angela?" Ladybug demanded.

"She's safe for now. Whether or not she remains that way depends on how well you're willing to cooperate." Dream Snatcher sneered. "Tell me where Isaac Martinez is and I'll return Angela unharmed."

"You're a real coward you know that, hiding behind a young woman like this." Cat Negro growled.

"I'm just playing the game, now where is Isaac Martinez. Don't leave Angela dangling." Dream Snatcher grinned showing them an image in the rim of his dream-catcher.

Ladybug couldn't believe it, she saw her normal self hanging by a rope over a sheer drop over the Hudson river. But she knew it wasn't real, that had to be Dream Snatcher's power, dreams and nightmares. She knew it wasn't real, she just had to get Cat Negro to believe it without giving away how she would know.

"You have until sunset tomorrow to bring him to me. You wouldn't want Angela to take the fall for it now would you? She's already deep enough in as it is." Dream Snatcher sneered before disappearing in a whirl of sand.

"We have to find her." Cat Negro said sounding worried for her.

"Cat Negro, it wasn't real." Ladybug said holding his shoulder.

"How do you know?" Cat Negro asked.

"Well think about it, if his power deals with dreams, who's to say that what he showed us was real and not just a dream he wanted us to see so that we would do his dirty work for him."

"You've got a point there, but right now I still think our best chance is to find Mr. Martinez and do as Dream Snatcher says." Cat Negro argued.

"You're right. Even if what he showed us wasn't real, we wouldn't know where to start looking for Angela." Ladybug agreed.

"Question is, what kind of business would he be away on?"

"I don't know where we can find him, but I think I know how he can find us." Ladybug answered realizing she was going to have to pull out another alter ego she hoped she wouldn't have to use again. "I just need a laptop."

Cat Negro seemed confused, but they found a computer she could use in the office across the hall. She asked Cat Negro to wait outside. Again he looked confused, but waited outside. Ladybug sighed with relief. She typed in her father's password and then opened up a private sight that she hadn't used in years and hoped she wouldn't have to use again. When she first tried sabotaging her father on her own, she worked under an alias, Burned Gold. She opened a message page with her father's message line and hoped he would be on.

Almost immediately he responded to her request to meet for a trade. After setting up the meeting place for behind the old shop on Bleaker, she informed Cat Negro where they had to go.

"So how did you manage to arrange this meeting with him?" Cat Negro asked.

"I had to pull some strings I had in my normal life a few years ago. It wasn't easy but he has agreed to meet."

"Now I'm really wishing I could know the smart senora under that mask." Cat Negro said winking at her.

"Later gatito." She winked back. "Right now we have a date with Mr. Martinez."

Rushing through dark alley ways, they met up with Mr. Martinez just as he was pulling into an alley way.

"What are you two doing here?" Mr. Martinez asked harshly. "I was told there was to be a trade here."

"We reached out to a friend for a favor to meet with you. We need to talk." Ladybug explained.

"I'm losing money." Mr. Martinez said turning to leave.

"Mr. Martinez, your daughter's life may be in danger if you don't cooperate." Cat Negro said as if he was expecting it would stop him.

"My daughter, what do you know of her?" he said all too calmly.

"Only that she's been kidnapped by an akuma and is probably scared for her life hoping that you're looking for her." Cat Negro said with that same tone.

"Angela is more than capable of taking care of herself. If she has been taken, she would know how ot get herself out."

"Do you not care that your daughter's very life could be in danger? She could be killed and you will have done nothing about it." Cat Negro said almost yelling at him.

"If I were you I would let myself hold my tongue." Mr. Martinez growled.

"Look, I think we can all agree that this is a very stressful situation. Look, Mr. Martinez, we have reason to believe that your daughter was taken as bait to get your attention. The akuma's target may in fact. Now if you don't care if your daughter is in danger or not that's one thing, but if you want to preserve your life, you need to come with us." Ladybug said stepping between them.

Ladybug knew her father all too well. He may seem like he didn't care that she was in danger, but he was only trying to not show weakness. She could see it in his eyes, inside he was burning with rage.

"Take me to her." Came Mr. Martinez's answer.

"Sir we are not sure where she is being held. But the one who has her says he will set her free if you turn yourself in to him." Ladybug explained. "We can lead you there."

"Just do it." Mr. Martinez said getting back in his car.

"How can he not care for his own daughter?" Cat Negro asked, Ladybug could see the anger in his eyes.

"It was all an act. I could see it in his eye. He does love her, he just doesn't show it or even really express it." Ladybug said. "I've seen his kind before."

"Don't suppose you'll tell me where."

"Nope." Ladybug answered. "At least now we're on track to getting the girl back and de-akumatizing Dream Snatcher."

Ladybug expected Cat Negro to push her more for answers, but he didn't and part of her was grateful for that. She wasn't sure how much more she could put out without giving away who she was. They lead Mr. Martinez to the warehouse they had found earlier that night. Once everyone was in, Mr. Martinez saw the anti-shrine and did seem taken aback, but none the less shaken.

"So, you held up your end of the deal and in, if I may say, excellent time." Dream Snatcher said coming out of nowhere.

"Don't think you're going to get away with this." Mr. Martinez said pulling out his gun. "Where's my daughter!" he shouted.

"She's safe for now." Dream Snatcher said as if unfazed. "But soon you won't be." with a wave, sand blew all around.

Ladybug and Cat Negro kept Mr. Martinez between them and thrust their weapons in circles to keep the sand back.

"If you really knew what this man had done you wouldn't be lifting a finger to protect him." Dream Snatcher said taking on a darker angrier tone. "This man took everything from me. My life, my dreams all of it because of him and what he's done to everyone he's ever come in contact with. Now, I'm about to return the favor."

"Look, Dream Snatcher, this isn't the answer." Ladybug tried to reason with him.

She suddenly felt Cat Negro pull her down. "What?" a blast of sand blew past her. "Thanks partner." She smiled. "We've got to get to his dream catcher, that's gotta be where the akuma is."

"I'll get Mr. Martinez out of here." Cat Negro said helping her up.

"Good, I'll keep Dream Snatcher's attention, I can buy you probably only a minute. Be quick."

"Got it." Cat Negro took Mr. Martinez's arm and launched out of the roof and disappeared.

"No!" Dream Snatcher tried to follow but Ladybug got in his way.

"Not so fast Dreamer." She taunted. "Lucky Charm!" she summoned. What appeared was a lighter.

"Just try and stop me with that little lady." Dream Snatcher taunted.

After looking around for what else she needed to use, being the sprinkler system and a sheet of plastic, she had an idea.

"With pleasure." She grinned back.

Dream Snatcher continued to try and blast her with the dream sand, but thankfully Ladybug as fast a dancer and she was graceful. Making it up to the ceiling and lighting the sprinklers, she grabbed the plastic sheet from off the wall and huddled beneath it. Just as the water started to fall, Cat Negro appeared and Ladybug pulled him under the plastic sheet with her. Dream Snatcher tried again and again to throw his dream sand, but the water wouldn't allow his attack to materialize.

"I'd say he's all washed up." Cat Negro laughed.

Ladybug groaned. "Now let's free that akuma." Throwing her yo-yo, Ladybug was able to pull the dream catcher out of Dream Snatcher's hand and break it. Out came the little black moth.

"No more terrorizing for you moth." She said preparing her yo-yo. "Time to be purified." She said launching her yo-yo and capturing the akuma. "Be free little butterfly." She said releasing the purified butterfly. "Miraculous Ladybug!" she summoned as the damage all around the city from Dream Snatcher's attack was repaired and the people returned home and awakened.

Dream Snatcher's form then dissolved back to his true form, a man whom Ladybug felt that she should know but she just couldn't put her finger on it.

"Olé!" Ladybug and Cat Negro exclaimed high-fiving.

As Ladybug and Cat Negro helped the guy get back on his feet, Ladybug could see that something else was bothering Cat Negro.

"Are you doing okay?" she asked.

"There's just one thing we still need to figure out, where's Angela?" he asked with concern in his voice.

"Everything's back to normal right, she should be safe at home." Ladybug answered trying to keep a straight face.

"I should go check on her just to be sure."

"No it's okay I'll go." Ladybug said trying to stop him.

"No, she was my responsibility, I should be the one to see if she's okay." Cat Negro said launching himself in the direction of her house.

Ladybug groaned and she quickly started swinging over the roof tops across the city, trying to get there before Cat Negro. As she got there, it was just about sunrise. She quickly landed on her balcony and ran for the bathroom and switched on the water just as she heard Cat Negro arrive.

"Angela, Angela?" she heard him call for her. "Are you here? It's me, Cat Negro." she heard him ask as he knocked on the door.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just got up to get a shower is all." Ladybug answered.

"Good, I just needed to see if you were okay."

"I'm good, thanks for saving me last night."

"You are very welcome senorita, I guess I'd better be going."

"See again sometime Cat Negro." Ladybug called through the door.

Once she was sure Cat Negro was gone, her transformation wore off and she got in the shower for real and started getting ready for school that day. As she was putting on her make-up, her father came into her room. He didn't say anything, he just walked up to her and stood there for a minute. Angela and him locked eyes for a moment and then he did something Angela hadn't even seen him do in years, he leaned down and pulled her into a hug. Angela's breath escaped, but she hugged him back.

"I'm glad everything worked out for the best." Was all he said before he left her alone again.

"You think seeing how close he could've come to losing you made him appreciate you more as his daughter?" Tikki asked poking her head out from her coat.

"I'd like to think so." Angela said as she grabbed her books and ran out for the bus.

As the bus drove for the college campus, she thought back to something Cat Negro told her last night, how she was someone he knew in normal life and really cared about her. If Cat Negro knew her in normal life, did she know him? If so, which guy in her life could it possibly be? She could eliminate Derek as a possible suspect because Derek didn't even speak Spanish and he was no flirt and even if he was he was totally faithful to Abbey so there was no way he would be flirting with her as Ladybug if he was Cat Negro. So if it wasn't Derek, who in her life could Cat Negro possibly be for him to know her?

When they got off the bus, Angela started up for the doors when Miguel pulled her over.

"Hey." He said smiling pretty big.

"Olllo, no I mean, Hello." Angela stammered.

"I heard about your adventures with Cat Negro last night. You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Angela answered trying to keep herself from babbling.

"Were you scared?"

"Me? Scared? Please, it was a dream, I mean no, In your dreams." Angela said realizing she wasn't having good control at this point.

"Okay, so what did you think of Cat Negro? Was he cool?" Miguel asked.

"Yeah, he was cool but not as cool as you of course, I mean you're the coolest of cool." Angela blathered.

"So, yes then." Miguel said clearly not following her babble.

He then walked off but not before patting Angela on the back. Angela felt completely light as she walked toward the main building.

"You do realize you just gabbed to Miguel about how cool you think he is right?" Tikki said poking her head out.

"He patted me on the back, I'll never wash my jacket again." Angela said clearly not listening.

"Oh Angela, you've really gotta learn to have better control of your emotions." Tikki said shaking her head.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Miguel combed through his English notes again and again studying for his test the next day. He had been up for a while now and his eyes were starting to get dry and heavy. He rubbed his eyes but did not want to go to sleep, not yet any way. He got up and stretched just to wake himself up enough to continue studying. After another few minutes, he got Plagg up and transformed to go out and get some air. While he was at it, a patrol around the city wouldn't hurt anything right? He had only been out for barely even 10 minutes when he heard angry drivers shouting at something and he went to check it out. When he got on the scene, he saw that drivers were swerving to avoid hitting someone walking in the street. He got a good look at them and felt his heart jump in his throat, it was Angela. But what was she doing out at this hour in her pajamas walking through traffic.

Following her, she finally stopped at the northern bridge over-looking the Hudson river. As he got closer to her, he saw a man not far away watching her. As unusual as it might have seemed at the time, all his thoughts in that moment were on his friend walking across the bridge. He was shot with terror when he saw her climb up on to the railing and about to step off. He swung down and grabbed her before she could jump. She started screaming and fighting to get loose from him, but even with her squirming, he was able to get her down from the railing and safely back on the ground. As he held her and kept her from trying to get away, he saw the man start to run off. While he would have given chase any other time, right now he had to make sure Angela was safe.

"Angela!" He called out to her trying to wake her up.

Her eyes snapped open and but apparently she still couldn't see straight right away. She continued to thrash trying to get loose. When she finally stopped fighting, she saw that she was standing in front of Cat Negro with his hands holding her arms.

"Angela, it's okay! It's okay." He said gently shaking her.

"I saw them, I saw her, she wanted me to follow her" she spouted frightened, not thinking clearly.

"What? Saw who?" Cat Negro asked concerned.

"I kept seeing faces, so many faces." Angela said on the verge of tears laying her face against Cat Negro's chest.

Cat Negro gently yet firmly held her in a reassuring hug. "It's alright, it was only a nightmare. It's over now."

Angela didn't try to push him off right away. She stood there awhile while he held her, clearly still frightened by whatever it was she was dreaming about. When she finally broke the hug, she looked around and clearly had no idea where she was or what she was doing there.

"Where am I?" she asked seeing that she was standing in the middle of a bridge over-looking the Hudson river. "What am I doing here in my pajamas?" she said seeing that she was still in her night clothes.

"You were sleep walking, you were about to walk off the bridge before I caught you." Cat Negro said leading her to a safer spot off the bridge. "You were lucky I was out tonight, you would've been at the bottom of the river for sure if I hadn't seen you walking through the busy streets."

"Sorry, I didn't even know I was sleep walking." She apologized following him. "This has never happened to me before, why now?" she asked trying to make sense of what had just happened to her.

"We can figure that out later, right now we should get you home. Where do you live?" Cat Negro said putting his arm around her waist and hoisting them both up on his rod.

"2110 Concord. The third house on the right surrounded by a gate." She said sounding awkward, apparently uncomfortable with his hold on her.

But seeing how he had just saved her from a watery grave and how they were now up a hundred feet in the air, she couldn't complain.

"Got it. Hang on tight little lady." He said as he started leaping across roof tops with her in his arms.

Angela didn't say a word the entire time he carried her home. But seeing where she ended up and where she lived, she had gotten some distance from her house to the bridge. While they were traveling back, his thoughts returned to the man he saw and for some reason, he began to suspect that maybe he had something to do with happened to Angela tonight. When they made it to her house, the balcony door was open.

"You should be safe for now." Cat Negro said escorting her back in her room.

"Thanks for saving me tonight." Angela said pulling an afghan off her bed and pulling around her shoulders.

"It was no big deal. I better get going." Cat Negro said turning to leave.

"No wait," Angela said taking his wrist. "Please stay here a while." She said still sounding frightened.

Cat Negro looked at her surprised, but he could understand why she would still be shaken up by what happened and said he would stay a while longer. Angela laid back down in bed and Cat Negro asked about her dream. After telling him everything she could remember, Cat Negro asked her if maybe she thought that it couldn't have been just a dream.

"Are you thinking it could have been an akuma?" Angela asked now sounding even more concerned.

"It's not what I was going to say but it definitely seems like what happened to you would be an akuma attack." Cat Negro answered rubbing the back of his neck. "Have you had any run ins with anyone lately? Anyone who would want to see you hurt?"

"Only person I could name who would want to make me miserable would be Jezebel, but I sincerely doubt it could be her, not even she would go so far as to try and kill me." Angela answered.

"Okay, I've gotta go looking for whoever this new villain is before he hurts anyone else. But I won't be far if you ever need me again." He said winking at her before closing the door.

Cat Negro took a leap across the way and took one more look across to Angela's room. He heaved a sigh of relief that he had gotten to her in time. He would not be able to live with himself if he hadn't gotten to her before she jumped. She was one of the closest friends he had here in New York and right now she was a target of an akuma and he had to make sure that it didn't get another shot at her again. He made his way back to the bridge and then pulled out his communicator and prayed that Ladybug would be out.

"Cat Negro, where are you?" Ladybug answered when she picked up.

"Nice to see you too mi senora." He smiled at her. "I'm at the northern bridge over-looking the Hudson river."

"I'll be there in a minute." Ladybug said closing the communication.

"I heard you rescued a damsel in distress earlier tonight." She grinned.

"Yeah, she was just walking as if she was in a dream. Almost got hit by several cars and walked all the way out here to the bridge and would have jumped if I hadn't seen her walking out in traffic and followed her." Cat Negro said staring out at the water.

"So what are we hoping to find here?" Ladybug asked.

"I'm not sure, but after what she told me, I could only guess that whatever it was that made her sleep-walk all the way out here was another akuma." Cat Negro answered.

"Okay, so where do we start? We don't even know why this akuma would be after this girl."

"Maybe not, but we may have a clue." Cat Negro said holding up a feather.

"A feather?" Ladybug asked confused.

"A pheasant feather. Very decorative, and used for many crafts including dream-catchers." Cat Negro said handing it to her.

"A dream-catcher, you think this came from a dream-catcher." Ladybug asked looking at it.

"I know it did, I saw someone running from the bridge just before I stopped that girl from taking the plunge. I didn't think much of it at first, but after I heard about her dream and seeing her walking through traffic all the way here, I began to think that maybe the one I saw running from the bridge may have been the one who lured her out of her home and here. As for why I don't know, but we need to find this thing and stop it before it tries to do the same thing to anyone else." Cat Negro explained.

"Wow, that was very observant and vigilant coming from you." Ladybug said surprised.

"I had a different motivation this time." Cat Negro said developing a serious tone.

"And what motivation would that be?" Ladybug said curiously.

"The girl that I saved tonight was someone I care about, if this thing is after her, I have to stop it before it goes after her again." Cat Negro answered jumping down from the railing.

"The first thing we should do is track this guy down." Ladybug said looking for any sort of clue where the person Cat Negro saw running away might have run.

"I think I might have found something." Cat Negro said pointing to a faintly glowing pile sand.

"Good job gatito." Ladybug said scratching under Cat Negro's chin.

"Muchos gracias mi senora." He purred.

They followed the trail through the city over roof tops and through the darkest alleyways through the city until the trail stopped in an old warehouse that looked like it was on the verge of collapse.

"Stay close, this place looks like it could give any minute now." Ladybug said slowly slipping in through the window in the roof.

When they got in, a light came on and they saw something that made his heart skip a beat, an anti-shrine for someone she knew all too well. A man who seemed almost familiar to him, and whoever made it had a lot of rage. Whoever this new villain was had been following this guy for a long time and clearly had some dark vendetta that they needed to settle.

"I think we found who it was this new villain is after." Ladybug said nervously.

"I think so too, the question is, why go after that girl? Who is this?" Cat Negro asked.

"His name is Isaac Martinez. As for why whoever this person would be after him I don't know, but I think I do know why he would go after that girl too."

"Why?"

"That girl you saved is his daughter, Angela Martinez." Ladybug answered.

Cat Negro felt his heart skip a beat.. "But why go after her if it's Mr. Martinez he's after?"

"I can think of no better way to hurt someone than by going after the people close to them." Ladybug answered.

"Well if this akuma is after Mr. Martinez, then odds are he would be heading to his house. Which means our best chance to catch this thing would be to head over there now and make sure he doesn't find what he's looking for." Cat Negro said heading back out.

"Right." Ladybug said following him. "So, tell me, Cat Negro, what's this girl you care about like? Do you like her?"

"Whatever, she's just someone I know and she's great friend. I wouldn't want to see her hurt." Cat Negro explained as they made their way across the city for her house. "I do care about her, but everyone knows that you're my only senora." He grinned at her.

"Of course." Ladybug said trying not to laugh.

They finally made it back to Angela's house and despite what hour it was, the place was alive with activity. As they were about to knock, the door opened and they were grabbed and pulled in.

"Back to the scene of the crime." One of the guys said pointing a gun at Cat Negro. "And you, here to help him finish what he tried to start."

"What are you talking about?" Ladybug said holding her hands up.

"Ms. Angela has been missing since this morning and one of our guards saw him leaving her room around the time she disappeared." The hot head said pointing the gun at Cat Negro.

"What, I never hurt her, I was bringing her home. I saved from jumping off the northern bridge into the Hudson river. I brought her home and she was fine when I left." Cat Negro said trying not to lose his cool with a gun at his head.

"If she's missing again it means that whoever lured her out the first time must have come for her again after you left her alone." Ladybug said trying to get the guy to lower the gun. "Where is Mr. Martinez?"

"He's out on business." He answered.

"Sir, we have reason to believe that the one who took Angela was an akuma but she's not his target. We found his hideout, and we found that the one he's really after is Mr. Martinez." Ladybug explained clearly trying to keep a straight face. "Is there any reason why someone would want to hurt him by means of taking his daughter?"

"With what Mr. Martinez does for a living, I would be surprised if he didn't have any enemies. But if you can really help get Ms. Angela back, I will trust you. But I warn you now, if anything happens to her, if she gets hurt or worse, you will be held responsible too." The gun holder warned.

"Don't worry sir, we'll bring her back. You have my word." Cat Negro promised.

All at once, everyone around Ladybug and Cat Negro began to fall asleep.

"What's going on?" Cat Negro asked getting edgy

"I don't know." Ladybug answered.

They suddenly heard a sinister laugh ringing through the front hall. "I'd say sweet dreams, but soon they won't have any left." The voice said. All at once, in a whirl of sand, a man with a dream catcher in his hand. "I am Dream Snatcher and I will find Isaac Martinez."

"Why ae so intent on hurting him? Where's Angela?" Ladybug demanded.

"She's safe for now. Whether or not she remains that way depends on how well you're willing to cooperate." Dream Snatcher sneered. "Tell me where Isaac Martinez is and I'll return Angela unharmed."

"You're a real coward you know that, hiding behind a young woman like this." Cat Negro growled.

"I'm just playing the game, now where is Isaac Martinez. Don't leave Angela dangling." Dream Snatcher grinned showing them an image in the rim of his dream-catcher.

Cat Negro Felt his heart pound harder seeing this, how he could he have been so stupid? He never should've left Angela alone.

"You have until sunset tomorrow to bring him to me. You wouldn't want Angela to take the fall for it now would you? She's already deep enough in as it is." Dream Snatcher sneered before disappearing in a whirl of sand.

"We have to find her." Cat Negro said sounding worried for her.

"Cat Negro, it wasn't real." Ladybug said holding his shoulder.

"How do you know?" Cat Negro asked.

"Well think about it, if his power deals with dreams, who's to say that what he showed us was real and not just a dream he wanted us to see so that we would do his dirty work for him."

"You've got a point there, but right now I still think our best chance is to find Mr. Martinez and do as Dream Snatcher says." Cat Negro argued.

"You're right. Even if what he showed us wasn't real, we wouldn't know where to start looking for Angela." Ladybug agreed.

"Question is, what kind of business would he be away on?"

"I don't know where we can find him, but I think I know how he can find us." Ladybug answered realizing she was going to have to pull out another alter ego she hoped she wouldn't have to use again. "I just need a laptop."

Cat Negro was confused, but they found a computer she could use in the office across the hall. She asked Cat Negro to wait outside. Again he looked confused, but waited outside. She was in the office for a few minutes and all that time, Cat Negro kept thinking about how he never should have left Angela. Now she was being held somewhere, without a doubt scared for her life and it was all his fault. He could not fail her tonight. He had to stop Dream Snatcher before he hurt her or her father. At last, Ladybug came out of the office and told Cat Negro where they were going to meet with Mr. Martinez.

"So how did you manage to arrange this meeting with him?" Cat Negro asked.

"I had to pull some strings I had in my normal life a few years ago. It wasn't easy but he has agreed to meet."

"Now I'm really wishing I could know the smart senora under that mask." Cat Negro said winking at her.

"Later gatito." She winked back. "Right now we have a date with Mr. Martinez."

Rushing through dark alley ways, they met up with Mr. Martinez just as he was pulling into an alley way.

"What are you two doing here?" Mr. Martinez asked harshly. "I was told there was to be a trade here."

"We reached out to a friend for a favor to meet with you. We need to talk." Ladybug explained.

"I'm losing money." Mr. Martinez said turning to leave.

"Mr. Martinez, your daughter's life may be in danger if you don't cooperate." Cat Negro said expecting it would stop him.

"My daughter, what do you know of her?" he said all too calmly.

"Only that she's been kidnapped by an akuma and is probably scared for her life hoping that you're looking for her." Cat Negro said with that same tone.

"Angela is more than capable of taking care of herself. If she has been taken, she would know how to get herself out."

"Do you not care that your daughter's very life could be in danger? She could be killed and you will have done nothing about it." Cat Negro said almost yelling at him.

"If I were you I would let myself hold my tongue." Mr. Martinez growled.

"Look, I think we can all agree that this is a very stressful situation. Look, Mr. Martinez, we have reason to believe that your daughter was taken as bait to get your attention. The akuma's target may in fact. Now if you don't care if your daughter is in danger or not that's one thing, but if you want to preserve your life, you need to come with us." Ladybug said stepping between them.

"Take me to her." Came Mr. Martinez's answer.

"Sir we are not sure where she is being held. But the one who has her says he will set her free if you turn yourself in to him." Ladybug explained. "We can lead you there."

"Just do it." Mr. Martinez said getting back in his car.

"How can he not care for his own daughter?" Cat Negro asked with anger in his eyes.

"It was all an act. I could see it in his eye. He does love her, he just doesn't show it or even really express it." Ladybug said. "I've seen his kind before."

"Don't suppose you'll tell me where."

"Nope." Ladybug answered. "At least now we're on track to getting the girl back and de-akumatizing Dream Snatcher."

They lead Mr. Martinez to the warehouse they had found earlier that night. Once everyone was in, Mr. Martinez saw the anti-shrine and did seem taken aback, but none the less shaken.

"So, you held up your end of the deal and in, if I may say, excellent time." Dream Snatcher said coming out of nowhere.

"Don't think you're going to get away with this." Mr. Martinez said pulling out his gun. "Where's my daughter!" he shouted.

"She's safe for now." Dream Snatcher said as if unfazed. "But soon you won't be." with a wave, sand blew all around.

Ladybug and Cat Negro kept Mr. Martinez between them and thrust their weapons in circles to keep the sand back.

"If you really knew what this man had done you wouldn't be lifting a finger to protect him." Dream Snatcher said taking on a darker angrier tone. "This man took everything from me. My life, my dreams all of it because of him and what he's done to everyone he's ever come in contact with. Now, I'm about to return the favor."

"Look, Dream Snatcher, this isn't the answer." Ladybug tried to reason with him.

Cat Negro saw out of the corner of his eye, a sand blast coming and had to pull her down. "What?" the blast of sand blew past her. "Thanks partner." She smiled. "We've got to get to his dream catcher, that's gotta be where the akuma is."

"I'll get Mr. Martinez out of here." Cat Negro said helping her up.

"Good, I'll keep Dream Snatcher's attention, I can buy you probably only a minute. Be quick."

"Got it." Cat Negro took Mr. Martinez's arm and launched out of the roof and disappeared.

As soon as they were a safe distance away from the warehouse, Cat Negro instructed Mr. Martinez to go hide and stay put. When he got back, just as the water started to fall from the sprinkler systems, Cat Negro was pulled under a plastic sheet with Ladybug. Dream Snatcher tried again and again to throw his dream sand, but the water wouldn't allow his attack to materialize.

"I'd say he's all washed up." Cat Negro laughed.

Ladybug groaned. "Now let's free that akuma." Throwing her yo-yo, Ladybug was able to pull the dream catcher out of Dream Snatcher's hand and break it. Out came the little black moth.

"No more terrorizing for you moth." She said preparing her yo-yo. "Time to be purified." She said launching her yo-yo and capturing the akuma. "Be free little butterfly." She said releasing the purified butterfly. "Miraculous Ladybug!" she summoned as the damage all around the city from Dream Snatcher's attack was repaired and the people returned home and awakened.

Dream Snatcher's form then dissolved back to his true form.

"Olé!" Ladybug and Cat Negro exclaimed high-fiving.

"Are you doing okay?" she asked seeing that Cat Negro was uneasy about something..

"There's just one thing we still need to figure out, where's Angela?" he asked with concern in his voice.

"Everything's back to normal right, she should be safe at home." Ladybug answered.

"I should go check on her just to be sure."

"No it's okay I'll go." Ladybug said trying to stop him.

"No, she was my responsibility, I should be the one to see if she's okay." Cat Negro said launching himself in the direction of her house. When he got there, he heard the shower running.

"Angela, Angela?" He called for her. "Are you here? It's me, Cat Negro." He asked he knocked on the bathroom door.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just got up to get a shower is all." He heard her answer.

"Good, I just needed to see if you were okay."

"I'm good, thanks for saving me last night."

"You are very welcome senorita, I guess I'd better be going."

"See again sometime Cat Negro." She called through the door.

Cat Negro took one last look at her house when he left and then headed for his own house and got ready for school that morning. He was tired because he had not slept at all that night, but Miguel thought it was worth it to make sure that Angela was safe.

'Because after all,' he reasoned. 'What kind of friend would I be if I didn't save a friend in need.'

Miguel got showered and dressed and the grabbed his book bag and headed out to meet the bus. When they got off the bus, Miguel saw Angela starting up for the doors. At this moment, he thought he should ask her what she thought of Cat Negro. He rushed over and pulled her to the side.

"Hey." He said smiling pretty big.

"Olllo, no I mean, Hello." Angela stammered.

"I heard about your adventures with Cat Negro last night. You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Angela answered.

"Were you scared?"

"Me? Scared? Please, it was a dream, I mean no, In your dreams." Angela stammered.

"Okay, so what did you think of Cat Negro? Was he cool?" Miguel asked.

"Yeah, he was cool but not as cool as you of course, I mean you're the coolest of cool." Angela blathered.

"So, yes then." Miguel said not following her babble.

He then walked off but not before patting Angela on the back and then headed for the main building. So, though she wasn't very clear in her answer she thought Cat Negro was cool. Which made him feel pretty confident with his chances with Ladybug. Because if he could get someone who would be a complete stranger to Cat Negro to like him, then it was only a matter of time before Ladybug fell for him too.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Angela sat in her literary arts class watching Miguel as he seemed intently stuck to whatever it was he was writing. Today they were supposed to be studying the history of the Brother's Grim fairytales. What caught Angela's attention was when Ms. Foustein brought up how many of the fairytales ended, with true loves kiss or how the kiss from the prince breaks the evil spell by kissing the princess. She then asked if anyone could explain why. It was Anna who stood up to answer, of course the sweetest girl Angela knew would know the answer to that one. All she would read was stories of true love and true loves kiss.

"Because evil is no match for the powers of true love." Anna answered in her usual sing-song voice which always made Angela see her more as a sweet little princess herself.

Angela almost laughed. She loved Anna's sweetness for all people, she really was a rare flower.

"Miguel I hope what you're writing has to do with our lesson." Ms. Foustein called on Miguel. "Can you tell me what I just said?"

"Most fairytales end with true loves kiss because evil is no match for true love." Miguel answered without missing a beat.

"Very good Miguel." Ms. Foustein said pleased with Miguel as the bell rang. "Remember to read the story of Snow White for our next lesson by Thursday. And don't forget, the Police Academy will be having their Valentine's day ball tomorrow. We hope to see you all there." Ms. Foustein announced.

Angela kept a close watch on Miguel as he crumbled up what he was writing and threw it in the trash. Angela was curious, what could he have been writing? She hung back as everyone left the room and then went and pulled Miguel's paper out of the waste basket.

"Looking for something to eat Angela?" she heard Jezebel jab at her from behind.

"Maybe she's looking for a new hair style." Isabella, Jezebel's friend, laughed with her.

Angela let out a huff to cool her firing temper. "Don't let them get to you, they're not worth it." Tikki said poking her head out.

"You're right." Angela said looking at Miguel's paper. "'Your hair a burning auburn red, your beautiful sapphire eye, I wonder who you are beneath that strong disguise. Every day we see each other I hope that you will be mine. Together our love could be so true. Please will you be my valentine?'" Angela read. "Who do you think he's talking about? Burning auburn red hair, sapphire eyes?"

"Uh, you." Tikki pointed out.

"Don't be silly, there plenty of girls with red hair and blues eye." Angela laughed. If she was being honest, she would hope it was her, but she didn't want to get her hopes up.

"Yeah, but auburn red hair and sapphire blue eye?"

"What could he mean by, 'strong disguise'?" Angela asked.

"He wants to know the real you Angela, he's talking about you." Tikki said with a big smile.

Angela couldn't help it anymore, she just had to leap with joy. "Oh pinch me, I must be dreaming." She squealed. But she soon saw that Tikki was a bit too literal when she felt a strong pinch on her arm. "Not literally!" Angela said rubbing her arm while Tikki giggled.

Angela strode out of the class room with a far off dreamy look on her face humming her favorite love song from the Malos Buenos Chicos.

"Someone's all happy about something." Derek said as he and Abbey caught up with Angela outside.

"Miguel wrote a poem for me." Angela said showing them the poem she had found.

"Oh, someone has their eyes on you Angel." Abbey said as she read it and nudged Angela's shoulder.

"I know." Angela said still staring off into space with that same dreamy look on her face.

"So, why don't you ask him to the Police's Academy's Valentine's day ball?" Abbey said shaking Angela back to reality.

"What? I can't, you know I don't do well asking guys out, especially this one, I can barely even talk to him without blabbering like an idiot. Besides, I've got two left feet, there is no way I'd be able to dance with him at all, let alone at a ball."

"No you don't bra, you've been gawking over Miguel for the longest time. Now's your chance to tell him how you feel." Derek said turning her to face him.

Angela thought it over for a minute. "You're right, it's time I told Miguel my feelings for him. Well, I think I'll start by writing them, on a card that is."

"That's a start." Abbey said as they headed for the bus. "Why don't we go by my place and we can work on it there. My Mom's making Valentine's day cookies."

"Sounds delicious." Derek answered taking his seat next to Abbey with Angela on the end.

When they made it to Abbey's house, Abbey told Angela to just go up to her room and wait for them up there. Angela sat by Abbey desk and pulled out her notebook and started writing potential love letters for Miguel. But she was finding it more difficult than she thought.

"Ugh, I'm no good at love letters, I sound like a total moronadon." She said letting her head fall on the desk.

"Only when you say words like 'moronadon.'" Tikki giggled. "Angela, think about Miguel and speak from the heart." Tikki said offering her advice.

Angela got another look at Miguel's poem sitting on her notebook. "Of course, I'll answer his poem." She said as Abbey and Derek came up with a card in the shape of a heart.

"Check it out girl." Derek said handing it to her.

"It's perfect! Thank you, thank you!" she exclaimed hugging her friends.

Immediately, she sat down and began to think about how her reply poem should sound. As the words seemed to flow from her pen, she wrote out her poem in answer to Miguel's.

"Don't forget to sign it." Abbey said pointing at the bottom. Out of nowhere, a ladybug came in and landed on Angela's card. "This is a good sign, ladybugs are good luck, especially in matters of love."

"Really?" Angela asked.

"Of course. After all, a ladybug is how me and Abbey met and you of all people should know about ladybugs." Derek answered.

"Why would you say that?" Angela asked feeling very nervous.

"'Since ancient times, ladybugs have been a sign of good fortune and a guide on the path of love and devotion.'" Abbey read. "It was on our blog this week, you read it didn't you?" Abbey asked showing Angela the page.

"Right, of course I did." Angela answered sighing with relief.

After she finished her card for Miguel, Angela and Abbey raced down stairs through the kitchen and stopped as Abbey's Mom, Mrs. Jackson was pulling the cookies out of the oven.

"Would you like to try some sweet hearts?" she asked as she set the tray down.

"Thanks Mrs. Jackson." Angela answered pulling one off the plate. "Oh, these are so good. You really have a gift Mrs. Jackson."

"Oh, thank you Angela. You are so sweet."

After grabbing one more cookie, she, Derek and Abbey raced outside to the mailbox.

"Go on Angela." Abbey pushed.

"Come on dude, do it before your confidence wipes out." Derek pushed.

Angela took a deep breath and stepped up to the mailbox and hesitated as she held her card up to the mailbox. Slowly she pushed her hand forward inch by inch until finally, with one last burst of courage, she shoved her card into the slot.

"I did it!" she exclaimed hugging her friends. All at once, their phones started to buzz. "Jezebel? Since when has she ever wanted to text us?" Angela said skeptical.

What they saw when they opened the message shocked them to the core. A picture of Danny soaking wet in the Firelight Fountain in Central Park with a rose in his hand.

"What a witch!" Abbey said clearly furious with her. "And I was the one who encouraged Danny to do it." she confessed. "I didn't know he was talking about her."

"Man, I hope Miguel doesn't do the same thing to you Angela." Derek said as Angela began to panic. "Oh no, I mean…."

"Ahhh! What have I done?" Angela said trying to pull and pry the mailbox open.

"Chill girl, Derek was joking!" Abbey said trying to get her down. "Miguel would never do that to you."

"What is that?" Derek said pointing their attention up above them.

All three friends looked up and saw strange man standing on a black cloud looking down at them.

"All love must disappear!" he declared throwing sharp thorns at the three of them from a rose in his hand.

Angela managed to dodge but Derek and Abbey weren't so lucky. "Guys, are you okay?" she asked them, only to pushed down and then had a handful of cookies thrown on her. "Seriously you guys?"

"You're not our friend, you're a sad pathetic joke." Derek yelled at her looking at her with his normally green eyes and his lips now black.

"Miguel's going to laugh his head off at your pathetic attempt at poetry." Abbey said with the same changes in her eyes and lips as they ran off laughing.

"What did he do to them?" Angela said picking herself up. As she got a closer look at the guy, she saw the rose. "I've seen that in, it's Danny's rose! He's been akumatized!" Angela realized in shock. "This is not good. We've got to find him fast." Angela said letting Tikki out behind the building. "Tikki, Spots On!" she called transforming into Ladybug.

She followed Danny across the city until she saw him stop at the Corrine Corps building. As he readied to take a shot at Jezebel, she threw her yo-yo stop the shot, but missed it too little too late. As the shot hit its mark, Ladybug saw Jezebel get hit, but there was no change.

'What does this mean? No, there'll be time for that later.' She thought as Danny turned his attention to her. "Danny, you have to stop!" Ladybug yelled trying to reason with him.

"I'm not Danny, I'm Heart Thorn and if I can't have love then no will." Heart Thorn answered back.

"Fine Heart Thorn, I get it, Jezebel totally broke your heart. But that doesn't mean you need to take out on the rest of New York!" Ladybug declared hoping she could reason with him.

"Yes I do and I will not stop until love is destroyed. Said good bye to your other emotions Ladybug, because from now on, all you'll feel is hatred." Heart Thorn declared back throwing more thorns her way.

Ladybug was able to deflect the thorns, but she was losing her footing upon the narrow roof. After dodging several more shots, she fell but was able to save herself by hooking her yo-yo onto the rain gutter. She watched as Heart Thorn flew off on his black cloud as if he were looking for her.

"Falling for me already mi senora?" Cat Negro said getting her attention a short distance down. "I need to tell you something."

"It's gonna have to wait. Heart Thorn…"

"Shh, I swore to myself I would tell you as soon as I saw you." Cat Negro said helping her down and holding her close on his rod high above the ground. "Ladybug, I…"

"Look out!" Ladybug yelled seeing Heart Thorn coming from behind him. She quickly turned them around and took the shot.

"Ladybug!" Cat Negro yelled as Ladybug began to cringe in his arms.

"Cat Negro, run." She groaned fighting the effects as long as she could.

"Why?" Cat Negro asked concerned.

"Because," She tried to warn him, but it was no good, the effects took hold and all she could feel for Cat Negro now was hatred. "Because I hate you."

"Ladybug, snap out of it."

"You're nothing Cat Negro and nothing to me! I hate you!" she shouted pushing him off her but losing her balance in the process and falling from Cat Negro's rod.

She saved herself this time by hooking her yo-yo to the terrace of one of the rooms of the Corrine Corps building. Cat Negro made a jump for the roof of the building next to them and disappeared behind the chimney stacks. Ladybug pulled herself up to the roof again and looked up to see Heart Thorn standing in front of her.

"I can help you take down Cat Negro, but I want his miraculous in return." He offered her.

"No, problem." Ladybug accepted grinning darkly as she took his extended hand.

They followed Cat Negro and saw him trying to pull Jezebel and her friend Isabella to safety. Heart Thorn gave chase to Jezebel and her friend while Ladybug confronted Cat Negro.

"Not so fast gatito." Ladybug smirked at him.

"I don't want to fight you Ladybug." Cat Negro declared to her.

"Ugh, that friendliness, it just makes me want to be sick." She retched. "You're definitely not my friend and did you really believe you ever had a chance with me?" she sneered at him as she threw her yo-yo trying to hit him.

Cat Negro managed to dodge her over and over again as she followed him across the roof tops along the street. At last he caught her yo-yo and pulled trying to stop her.

"Why are you so full of hate Ladybug?" Cat Negro asked.

"Because hate conquers all." She declared to him venomously.

"I know you don't believe that, hate doesn't conquer all, love does." Cat Negro answered back.

"You're just buying time!" Ladybug said freeing her yo-yo. "Fight!" she demanded.

"I'll do better than that." Cat Negro said with a smile.

"Huh?" Ladybug said confused by his sudden change in demeanor.

"Come senorita, just a peck." He said walking closer to her leaning in for a kiss.

Ladybug jumped out of the way in disgust. "Get away from me you savage!" she yelled taking off with Cat Negro not far behind.

When she tried to leap across an alley way, just as her yo-yo was about to hook an anchor, Cat Negro's rod deflected it and she began to fall, but she was caught before she could hit the ground. Cat Negro held her with her back to the wall.

"No, no." she said squirming to get free.

"Don't worry, when you're free of this, I think you'll find that you actually like it." He said moving to kiss her again.

But just before his lips could meet hers, a barrage of thorns came flying in and he let her go as she ran and met up with Heart Thorn across the way in Central Park. She saw Cat Negro follow her and they stopped at the Firelight Fountain.

"How are going to fight both of us now wuss puss?" Ladybug jabbed pulling out her yo-yo.

"Do you think he'll use his cataclysm?" Heart Thorn asked her as if he wanted Cat Negro to hear him.

"He won't have a choice. I know he's wondered what would happen if he used his cataclysm on someone." Ladybug laughed.

As Cat Negro came at them, Ladybug and Heart Thorn spilt up and began to attack him from all sides. At last he threw his rod and knocked Heart Thorn off his cloud and he landed tangled up in the tree branches. He turned his attention to Ladybug.

"Now to free the princess." He said as she came at him.

They struggled a minute and Ladybug finally got the upper hand when she jumped and landed, pinning him to the ground.

"Ladybug, his miraculous." Heart Thorn called to her while freeing himself from the branches.

"With pleasure." She said looking at his ring. "Finally, I'll find out who you are Cat Negro." She sneered taking his hand reaching for his ring. "The cat will finally be out of the bag."

But before she could even make a move to take it, he grabbed her face and pulled her lips to meet his. In a moment she wanted to fight back, but her mind went hazy and she began to lose track of what was happening. When she opened her eyes, she was having a hard time thinking.

"What am I doing here?" she asked rubbing her head.

"No time, Heart Thorn's about to free himself." Cat Negro said helping her up. "Where's his akuma?"

"The rose in his hand." Ladybug answered pulling out her yo-yo. Heart Thorn finally appeared out of the trees on top of his black cloud. "We're sitting ducks on the ground. But we can destroy his flying cloud, then we may gain equal footing."

"Good thinking mi senora." Cat Negro answered. "Cataclysm!" he summoned. "Hey Heart Thor, bet yu can't hit me!" Cat Negro taunted.

Cat Negro ran for the cloud dodging Heart Thorn's thorns. At last he reached his point and jumped and reached for the cloud. At one touch, the cloud disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"You won't beat me!" Heart Thorn yelled sending a barrage of thorns in their direction.

Ladybug and Cat Negro dodged and hid behind the fountain.

"Lucky Charm!" Ladybug summoned. What came to her was a spool of ribbon. "What am I supposed to do with this?"

"You plan on wrapping him gift or something?" Cat Negro commented.

Ladybug looked around and saw what she had to work with. Heart Thorn, a tree and the spool. "Well, kind of. Just keep him distracted but lure him to that tree over there and I'll wrap things up." She instructed him.

"Got it." Cat Negro said jumping out from behind the fountain getting Heart Thorn's attention.

Ladybug followed close behind and danced around Heart Thorn as he got closer and closer to the tree. At last she pulled on the ribbon and it tightened around Heart Thorn securing him against the tree with his hand immobilized.

"Looks like we've got this situation all wrapped up." Cat Negro grinned.

"The rose Cat Negro, grab it." Ladybug said holding on to the ribbon.

"No!" Heart Thorn said as Cat Negro snatched from his hand.

"Sorry, need that." He smirked. "Happy Valentine's day." Cat Negro called to Ladybug tossing her the rose.

"Ahh, you shouldn't have." She smiled. "Opps." She said immediately dropping the rose and crushing it beneath her foot. "No more terrorizing for you moth." She said readying her yo-yo. "Time to be purified." She called capturing the akuma. "Be free little butterfly." She whispered freeing the purified akuma. "Miraculous Ladybug!" she summoned as the glow spread throughout the city repairing the damage caused by Heart Thorn.

"Olé!" Ladybug and Cat Negro exclaimed high-fiving.

Ladybug's earrings started to beep. "Opps, gotta go."

"Ladybug wait, I need to tell you something." Cat Negro called to her.

"Look, about everything I may have said, I never really meant it. You know you mean…"

"No that's not it, I just wanted to…" he tried to say but his ring started to beep too.

"Look out Cat Negro, your ring is flashing." Ladybug warned him.

"Yours too."

"We're about to turn into pumpkins and I don't know about you, but I'd rather not see that." Ladybug giggled as she took off.

She made it back to Abbey's as her transformation wore off and Tikki landed in her purse where she had some of Mrs. Jackson's cookies waiting for her. Angela made it back inside and saw that Derek and Abbey were waiting for her.

"Girl, where have you been?" Abbey said crushing Angela in a hug. "Girl we are so sorry for anything we said or did. We didn't mean it, we weren't ourselves." Abbey apologized letting Angela breathe.

"Guys, it's okay. I know it wasn't your fault." Angela said accepting her apology.

"So you forgive us then?" Derek asked.

"There's nothing to forgive." Angela answered pulling her friends into another hug.

"Good, well the mail man's going to be here soon. You want to go make sure he takes your card?" Abbey asked.

"I should, I want to make sure Miguel gets it." Angela answered heading out for the mail box.

A minute later, the mail man came and opened the box. "There's your chance to get your card back." Tikki said poking her head out.

"That was before," Angela answered. "I realized that even with so much hate everywhere, love still wins. But I want to win over Miguel, he needs to know how I really feel about him."

"That's my girl Angela, never give up." Tikki smiled.

"Yeah, I'm just glad Cat Negro was able to free me from the effects of Heart Thorn so I can still feel love for Miguel. Although, there is one thing I still haven't figured out."

"And what's that?" Tikki asked.

"When Heart Thorn's thorns hit Jezebel, they did nothing. But when they hit Derek, Abbey or me, we felt nothing but hatred. What do you think it means?"

"I don't know."

"Maybe, the thorns could only change someone if they had feelings for the ones we cared about." Angela figured out.

"That must be it, which also might mean you have feelings for Cat Negro." Tikki teased.

"Oh Tikki, you know how I feel about him. He's just a friend and a great partner. But honestly, that's all we're gonna be is friends, really good friends." Angela smirked back. "Come on, Derek and Abbey are probably wondering what's taking me so long." She said as they headed back inside.

"So, did you take your card back?" Abbey asked.

"No, I didn't take my card back." Angela answered proud of herself.

"Looks like I owe you two cookies." Derek answered. Angela laughed. "And you remembered to sign it right?"

"Uh, actually I don't remember if I did or not." Angela answered realizing she couldn't recall ever signing her card.

"What do you mean you don't remember?" Abbey pushed.

"I mean just what I said. The ladybug came along while I was writing and then you were going on about the Bug Blog and it's all a blur." Angela confessed.

"Looks like you owe me two cookies." Derek laughed.

"I can't believe you, the girl didn't even sign it." Abbey laughed handing Derek back his two cookies.

"We love you girl, but sometimes you seriously bug. You know that?" Derek laughed.

Angela couldn't help but laugh along with them. They were right, it just part of her being a total scatter brain.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Miguel had been racking his brain since he woke up that morning what he could say in his letter to Ladybug. He had made at least a dozen poems before the one he was working on now, each one, worse than the last. This one was decent, but it just didn't seem good enough for some reason, there was just something missing. The whole time he was writing, he was also trying to pay attention to what was going on in class. Today in literary, they were discussing the history of the Brother's Grim fairytales. How at the end of many of these fairytales, things were made right through true loves kiss and how the prince saved his princess with a kiss. He heard Anna's reply to this being that hate was no match for the powers of true love. Which really saved him when Ms. Foustein called on him.

"Can you tell me what I just said?" she asked almost as if expecting to catch him.

"Most fairytales end with true loves kiss because evil is no match for true love." Miguel answered without missing a beat.

"Very good Miguel." Ms. Foustein said pleased with Miguel as the bell rang. "Remember to read the story of Snow White for our next lesson by Thursday. And don't forget, the Police Academy will be having their Valentine's day ball tomorrow. We hope to see you all there." Ms. Foustein announced.

Miguel took another stab at the poem, but it was no use, this just wasn't working. He crumpled the paper and threw it away and headed out to his bus stop feeling frustrated. Just as he was about to walk out the door, Jezebel jumped in his path.

"Hola, Miguel, sign here please." She said opening a large roll of paper.

"Jezebel, you know I don't sign autographs anymore." He groaned brushing his hair out of his face.

"Oh that's not what this is. It's sign up for the marathon next week and I would just love it if you were a part of my team." Jezebel answered.

Miguel sighed. Her lie was weak, but he wasn't in the mood to call her out on it so he just signed what he expected to be a poster and continued on his way. As he waited for the bus, he wondered if maybe he should invite Ladybug to the Police Academy's Valentine's day Ball the next day, but then he thought that maybe it wouldn't be the best idea as she didn't seem the social events type. But it couldn't hurt to try. All he had to do was figure out the best way to ask her. Even if she said no, he was willing to be shot down than go down not trying. As the bus pulled up, he had resorted back to the poems again. And this time he was having about as much luck as before. Nothing.

Even as the bus pulled up to his house he still had nothing. When he got up to his room, he quickly finished his homework and got back to the poems, one failure after another. Plagg was with him enjoying his usual camembert cheese.

"How could possibly be in love with Ladybug if you don't even know who she really is?" Plagg asked sounding annoyed.

"What do you know about love?" Miguel asked deflated.

"Plenty, I love cheddar, swiss and I love camembert."

Miguel went over to his bedroom window and slumped against the pane.

"Is somebody frustrated because he can't finish the poem for his mysterious sweet heart?" he heard Plagg tease.

"Why should I need poetry when I could just tell her to her face? 'I love you.'" Miguel answered finding his thoughts drifting farther out to his senora.

Plagg gagged but Miguel didn't care. He continued to find ways to try and tell Ladybug he loved her and to ask her to the Police Academy Valentine's Day ball. As he continued to figure it out, he saw a strange man fly by on black cloud and had a sinking feeling that evil had just been unleashed in New York. He knew he should be worried, but now was his chance to talk to Ladybug.

'Alright, I swear as soon as I see her I have to tell her.' He thought as he transformed.

The villain wasn't that hard to find, but he got here just in time to see Ladybug barely save herself from falling off the roof of the Corrine Corps building.

"Falling for me already mi senora?" he teased getting her attention just below her. "I need to tell you something."

"It's gonna have to wait. Heart Thorn…" she tried to say, but Cat Negro stopped her speech.

"Shh, I swore to myself I would tell you as soon as I saw you." Cat Negro said helping her down and holding her close on his rod high above the ground. "Ladybug, I…"

"Look out!" Ladybug yelled quickly turning them around and taking a shot that had come from behind him.

"Ladybug!" Cat Negro yelled as Ladybug began to cringe in his arms.

"Cat Negro, run." She groaned as if she was fighting the effects of whatever had hit her.

"Why?" Cat Negro asked concerned.

"Because," She tried to warn him. "Because I hate you." She growled as he watched her eyes and lips turn black.

"Ladybug, snap out of it." He pleaded.

"You're nothing Cat Negro and nothing to me! I hate you!" she shouted pushing him off her but losing her balance in the process and falling from his rod.

She saved herself this time by hooking her yo-yo to the terrace of one of the rooms of the Corrine Corps building. Cat Negro made a jump for the roof of the building next to them and disappeared behind the chimney stacks. He quickly made his way to the entrance of Corrine Corps and found Jezebel and her friend Isabella hiding just in front of the entrance.

"Cat Negro? What are you doing here? Where's Ladybug?" Jezebel asked in that snobby tone that he had known too well as Miguel.

"She's otherwise engaged, but we need to get you out of here. A villain named Heart Thorn is here and there's no telling what he'll do if he finds you both here." He said trying to get them out.

"Uh huh, no way. I'm not leaving without this." She said pointing to the poster he had signed earlier. "That's Miguel Dorado. A super hot rock star in my class, he's hot for me of course." She bragged.

"I sincerely doubt it." He muttered.

Suddenly the front doors burst open Heart Thorn came in. Cat Negro grabbed Jezebel and Isabella and told them to run. Heart Thorn gave chase to Jezebel and her friend while Ladybug confronted Cat Negro.

"Not so fast gatito." Ladybug smirked at him.

"I don't want to fight you Ladybug." Cat Negro declared to her.

"Ugh, that friendliness, it just makes me want to be sick." She retched. "You're definitely not my friend and did you really believe you ever had a chance with me?" she sneered at him as she threw her yo-yo trying to hit him.

Cat Negro managed to dodge her over and over again as she followed him across the roof tops along the street. As much it hurt to hear her say this, he couldn't let it get to him, she wasn't herself. He had to find a way to fix this, because without Ladybug's help, he couldn't de-akumatize Heart Thorn. But frist he had to avoid being bashed to pieces by Ladybug. At last he caught her yo-yo around his rod and pulled trying to stop her.

"Why are you so full of hate Ladybug?" Cat Negro asked trying to hide the pain her words had caused him.

"Because hate conquers all." She declared to him venomously.

"I know you don't believe that, hate doesn't conquer all, love does." Cat Negro answered back. Instantly what flashed through his mind was what he had learned or at least listened to in literary arts earlier that day. How hate and evil were no match for the powers of true love.

"You're just buying time!" Ladybug said freeing her yo-yo. "Fight!" she demanded.

"I'll do better than that." Cat Negro said with a smile. He now had an idea of how he could save Ladybug.

"Huh?" Ladybug said confused by his sudden change in demeanor.

"Come senorita, just a peck." He said walking closer to her leaning in for a kiss. While he would have enjoy this any other time, this wasn't how he would have wanted his first kiss with her to turn out.

Ladybug jumped out of the way in disgust. "Get away from me you savage!" she yelled taking off with Cat Negro not far behind.

When she tried to leap across an alley way, just as her yo-yo was about to hook an anchor, Cat Negro's rod deflected it and she began to fall, but she was caught before she could hit the ground. Cat Negro held her with her back to the wall.

"No, no." she said squirming to get free.

"Don't worry, when you're free of this, I think you'll find that you actually like it." He said moving to kiss her again.

But just before his lips could meet hers, a barrage of thorns came flying in and he let her go as she ran and met up with Heart Thorn across the way in Central Park. Cat Negro followed her and they stopped at the Firelight Fountain.

"How are going to fight both of us now wuss puss?" Ladybug jabbed pulling out her yo-yo.

"Do you think he'll use his cataclysm?" Heart Thorn asked her as if he wanted Cat Negro to hear him.

"He won't have a choice. I know he's wondered what would happen if he used his cataclysm on someone." Ladybug laughed.

As Cat Negro came at them, Ladybug and Heart Thorn spilt up and began to attack him from all sides. At last he threw his rod and knocked Heart Thorn off his cloud and he landed tangled up in the tree branches. He turned his attention to Ladybug.

"Now to free the princess." He said as she came at him.

They struggled a minute and Ladybug finally got the upper hand when she jumped and landed, pinning him to the ground.

"Ladybug, his miraculous." Heart Thorn called to her while freeing himself from the branches.

"With pleasure." She said looking at his ring. "Finally, I'll find out who you are Cat Negro." She sneered taking his hand reaching for his ring. "The cat will finally be out of the bag."

But before she could even make a move to take it, he grabbed her face and pulled her lips to meet his. She didn't fight back as he expected, and it was a good sign that the kiss must have been the answer. When at last he let go, she seemed confused.

"What am I doing here?" she asked rubbing her head.

"No time, Heart Thorn's about to free himself." Cat Negro said helping her up. "Where's his akuma?"

"The rose in his hand." Ladybug answered pulling out her yo-yo. Heart Thorn finally appeared out of the trees on top of his black cloud. "We're sitting ducks on the ground. But if we can destroy his flying cloud, then we may gain equal footing."

"Good thinking mi senora." Cat Negro answered. "Cataclysm!" he summoned. "Hey Heart Thor, bet you can't hit me!" Cat Negro taunted.

Cat Negro ran for the cloud dodging Heart Thorn's thorns. At last he reached his point and jumped and reached for the cloud. At one touch, the cloud disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"You won't beat me!" Heart Thorn yelled sending a barrage of thorns in their direction.

Ladybug and Cat Negro dodged and hid behind the fountain.

"Lucky Charm!" Ladybug summoned. What came to her was a spool of ribbon. "What am I supposed to do with this?"

"You plan on wrapping him gift or something?" Cat Negro commented.

Ladybug looked around. "Well, kind of. Just keep him distracted but lure him to that tree over there and I'll wrap things up." She instructed him.

"Got it." Cat Negro said jumping out from behind the fountain getting Heart Thorn's attention.

Ladybug followed close behind and danced around Heart Thorn as he got closer and closer to the tree. At last she pulled on the ribbon and it tightened around Heart Thorn securing him against the tree with his hand immobilized.

"Looks like we've got this situation all wrapped up." Cat Negro grinned.

"The rose Cat Negro, grab it." Ladybug said holding on to the ribbon.

"No!" Heart Thorn said as Cat Negro snatched from his hand.

"Sorry, need that." He smirked. "Happy Valentine's day." Cat Negro called to Ladybug tossing her the rose.

"Ahh, you shouldn't have." She smiled. "Opps." She said immediately dropping the rose and crushing it beneath her foot. "No more terrorizing for you moth." She said readying her yo-yo. "Time to be purified." She called capturing the akuma. "Be free little butterfly." She whispered freeing the purified akuma. "Miraculous Ladybug!" she summoned as the glow spread throughout the city repairing the damage caused by Heart Thorn.

"Olé!" Ladybug and Cat Negro exclaimed high-fiving.

Ladybug's earrings started to beep. "Opps, gotta go."

"Ladybug wait, I need to tell you something." Cat Negro called to her.

"Look, about everything I may have said, I never really meant it. You know you mean…"

"No that's not it, I just wanted to…" he tried to say but his ring started to beep too.

"Look out Cat Negro, your ring is flashing." Ladybug warned him.

"Yours too."

"We're about to turn into pumpkins and I don't know about you, but I'd rather not see that." Ladybug giggled as she took off.

Cat Negro stayed a moment longer realizing he had missed his chance. The only consolation he got was that he was able to kiss Ladybug, even if it was only to free her from Heart Thorn's spell. But still he had kissed her. That was something, though, he still would have preferred for her to know his true feelings for her. When his ring started to beep again, he quickly began to make his way home. When he got there, he gave Plagg a piece of camembert and sulked around his room feeling like he had failed at every chance he had that day to tell the girl of his dreams how much she really meant to him. Plagg was giving him a hard time about it and about other things.

"Can you believe all the terrible things Ladybug said to you." Plagg laughed.

"You think it's funny huh?" Miguel sighed slumping on his bed.

"Come on, what's the big deal?" Plagg asked floating over to a pile of valentines that had come in th email for him. "You got so many these from all these lady fans of yours, take your pick." He said tossing one over.

It was pink heart shaped card that floated over to his bed and landed right next to him. Not seeing a lot more he could right now any way and feeling it wouldn't be polite to ignore it, he opened it and began to read it. And he was stunned to see what it was.

"Hold on, someone answered my poem? I thought I threw it away." He said remembering that he had done just that earlier. "'Your hair as dark as night, your eyes a mesmerizing green, I look at you and wonder your inner most thoughts and dreams. Yes, your valentine I will be. Our love will be so true, together for eternity my heart belongs to you.'" He read.

"Ugh, anyone who writes as sickeningly sweet as you must be your soul mate." Plagg answered.

Miguel looked at the bottom. "It isn't signed." He said disappointed.

Out of nowhere, a ladybug came and landed on the card and left as quickly as it had appeared and flew out the window as Miguel followed it.

"Could it have come from Ladybug?" he sighed sliding down the wall to the floor dreaming and hoping so.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Angela felt her head about to explode with all the hard digging she was having to do get her essay together. She had been at this for hours and it wasn't getting any easier the closer she got to the end. She dropped her pencil and rubbed her temples.

"Are okay Angela?" she heard Tikki ask from her bed.

"I'm fine, just tired. This essay is killing me from the inside." Angela groaned leaning her head back.

"Maybe you should take break. You've worked hard, you deserve it." Tikki said floating over.

"Yeah, you're right. Maybe we can take a walk to the park, stretch my legs for a little bit." Angela said stretching and grabbing her purse. "It's such a nice day, a walk through Central Park sounds like heaven right now."

Angela walked out to the bus stop trying not to think so much about her essay and instead tried to let her mind relax. For some strange reason, she caught herself thinking about what happened two weeks ago just before Valentine's Day. She had been hit by Heart Thorn's hate inducing thorns and somehow Cat Negro had been able to free her from his spell. While she had no solid memories about what happened while she was under the hate spell, other than just feeling nothing but that horrible emotion. How he had been able to free her, she had her suspicions. While she normally would have been repulsed by that, she couldn't help but wonder if he had been able to free her, not just because it was a kiss, but also because he kissed her to free her because he loved her.

At first, how she thought he really saw her was just another pretty face. But if she was freed by his kiss because he really did love her, then maybe he really was true only to her. Suddenly she felt guilty thinking that, because he may really love her, but the one she was in love with was Miguel and she could not betray him by trying to fall in love all over again with someone else. If Cat Negro ever confessed his feelings to her, she was going to have let him down easy. As much as she cared for him, Cat Negro just wasn't her match made in heaven. He was her partner and a good friend, that's what she would tell herself.

Angela shook her head trying to let all of that just slide, she had other, better things she could think about to help her mind relax. Finally the bus stopped about a block from Central Park and she took a good walk getting there. With leisurely stroll, she took in the bright sun shining in through the trees and reflecting off the waters of the ponds in the park.

"Central Park is just so beautiful this time of year." Angela breathed as she began to turn and walk slowly backwards.

Suddenly, she felt herself bump into someone behind her. "Oh, I'm so sorr…ahhh!" she gasped seeing who it was. "Miguel! What are you doing here?" she gasped trying not to faint.

"I was just out, enjoying the sun." Miguel answered. "Nice to see you out here too. Would you like to walk with me?"

"Baah, no I mean, nay… no, that is, what I mean is, yes." Angela stammered mentally slapping herself for looking like a complete idiot.

"Ok, well, shall we?" he said pointing further down the path.

Angela felt her body flush with heat as she walked right next to him. Her tongue suddenly went dry and she was having a hard time making words come out in their conversation.

"Your hair looks different." Angela commented seeing his new hair cut.

"Yeah, my Dad thought it could use a trim, and a wash." Miguel said brushing a few strands out of his face. "And to be honest, I kind of like it." Miguel said. "It's so much more tamable now and it's fluffier than it was before."

"It looks amazing." Angela heard herself slip.

"Thanks." Miguel said with that smile that made Angela feel weak in the knees. "So hey, there was something I wanted to ask you about earlier yesterday."

"What?" Angela asked feeling her heart begin to race.

"The theatre club is doing a musical audition next week after courses and I was wondering if you would like to be my audition partner. I just need someone to sing with for the duet part I'm auditioning for."

"You want me to, with you, sing, audition for musical?" Angela babbled.

"Yeah, I was asking around for a singing partner and many other people say that you're a pretty amazing singer." Miguel explained.

Angela could not feel her limbs anymore. She felt her mind go numb and her legs turn to jelly. She couldn't think or speak.

"I can understand if you don't want to."

"No, I mean, That, love to, I would do….ugh!" she said slapping herself back to attention. "Yes, I would love to do that." She said breathing that she finally got her response out.

"Great. So, do you think you could come by my place after classes tomorrow to rehearse?" Miguel asked.

"Yes, I will be there." Angela answered feeling in a daze.

"Awesome, here's my address. I'll see you then." Miguel said walking off.

Angela just stood there, staring at him as he went off. "Oh, Tikki! I can't believe it! I'm going to be doing a singing audition with Miguel!" Angela cheered leaping with joy through Central Park.

"I'm so proud of you Angela. Now you just have to learn the song and you'll be great." Tikki said poking her head out.

Angela walked in a daze around the park for the rest of her time out and was still feeling hazy as she got back on the bus to go home and work on her essay. She snapped out of it when her phone went off.

"It's probably my Dad." She said taking her phone out of her purse. "Called it," she said seeing her father's name on the caller I.D. "Hey Dad." She answered.

"Angela, you will not be going out with Brock on trades anymore." Isaac said into the phone.

"What?"

"Brock has informed me that one of your class mates recognized you on your last trade. From now on, Jet and Brock will handle the trades."

"Dad, I don't know what…"

"Just don't, and don't do anything to give us away."

"Yes sir." She said as she hung up. Even though she was having a hard time processing what had just happened, she dialed Derek.

"What's up bra?" Derek answered.

"Derek, you are not going to believe what my Dad just told me."

"What?"

"He's not going to have me go out on trades anymore."

"What? Why?"

"It's because Jezebel's brother recognized me at my last trade and now apparently Dad thinks it's too risky for me to go again."

"What does that mean for our mole operation?"

"I guess for now, nothing. We're going to be in a holding pattern for a while until I can get more info. For now, it's best that we keep our heads down."

"Gotcha dude."

"I gotta go, but Derek, thanks for all your help."

"No prob dude." Derek answered before they each hung up.

Angela was still having a hard time wrapping her mind around what had just happened. But she couldn't shake the feeling that her Dad had another reason in mind that he just didn't want to tell her. Was he trying to protect her for some reason from something? Or had he finally figured out that she was the leak this whole time? Either way, she was going to have to be even more careful now, whatever her father's reason was, she couldn't let her guard down.

When the bus finally pulled up by her house, she went up to her room and got started on her essay again. It went a little easier after getting out to clear her head. Now it wasn't so stressful to write. Finally, it was finished, when she looked at her clock, it was just about time for her to get herself to bed.

"Today was awesome, wasn't it Tikki?" Angela said as she changed into her night clothes.

"I'll say, I can't wait to see how you will handle tomorrow. Especially singing with Miguel." Tikki giggled.

Angela felt her knees start to shake again thinking about it. Miguel had asked her to sing with him for an audition.

"Singing with Miguel." Angela swooned flopping onto the bed. "I must be dreaming."

"I'm pretty sure you're still awake, but maybe you should go to sleep. You have a big day tomorrow." Tikki said landing next to her.

Angela let herself drift off. But after what only seemed a few minutes, she felt something shake the house.

"Earthquake!" she cried scrambling to get into the doorway. But as suddenly as it had come, it just stopped. "What was that?" she asked Tikki holding her kwami close.

"I don't know." Tikki said shaking in Angela's hand.

Angela slowly made her way to the door out to her balcony. When she looked out, she saw something that made her heart pound. A massive woman spider thing standing outside.

"At last, there you are." It hissed at her.

"Who are you? What do you want with me?" she asked trying to keep Tikki hidden in her shirt pocket.

"I need you to deliver a message for me. Tell Cat Negro if he wants to see his Ladybug again, he will have to come fight me for her." she hissed at her.

"Why me?"

"I know you and Cat Negro have a history. Find him and tell him to meet me at the Northern Manhattan bridge at noon tomorrow."

Without another word, she lashed out a strand of web and swung off.

"What was that about?" Tikki said poking her head out of Angela's pocket.

"I don't know, but we need to find Cat Negro. If Hawk Moth has unleashed another akuma that has it in for Cat Negro, then we need to find him and warn him." Angela said. "Tikki Spots On!" she called transforming into Ladybug.

Without a second thought, she took off after the spider woman. After she caught up with her, she saw why she thought she had Ladybug, hanging off one of the taller rafters up on the bridge, a girl in a Ladybug costume was hanging by spider webbing screaming for someone to get her down. Ladybug stayed out of sight.

"Who is that?" she asked herself in a whisper.

"I was going to ask you the same thing." She heard from behind her.

Startled, she turned around and saw Cat Negro standing behind her. "Oh, you scared me." She breathed.

"You scared me, when I saw that girl, I thought she was you. I'm just glad you're okay."

"That's sweet, but we still have a major problem here. Hawk Moth has obviously unleashed another akuma and for some reason, she seems to have it in for you." Ladybug explained.

"So what do we do?" Cat Negro asked.

"You go out there and keep her attention away from that girl and me. While you're keeping her busy, I can get the girl to safety."

"Sounds like a plan."

"Good luck." Ladybug said swinging her yo-yo toward the underside of the bridge.

As she made her way to rafters at the time, she could see Cat Negro doing his bit, but this new villain really seemed to have it in for him, she was really putting up a fight and Cat Negro looked like he wasn't going to be able to hold his ground much longer. Ladybug knew she was going to have to work fast. Swinging rafter by rafter, she finally made it up to the girl and was pretty stunned to see who it is.

"Jezebel?" she said in shock.

"Ladybug, where have you been?"

"Shh. I'm gonna get you out of here, just stay quiet." She whispered.

Ladybug quietly untied Jezebel and carried her as she swung over to the closest rooftop and dropped Jezebel off.

"You'll be safe here. Just take the stairs to the ground floor and take the first cab to your place." Ladybug instructed her.

"Wait, you're not leaving me here."

"I have to go." Ladybug said turning to leave. "Just do what I told you and you'll be fine." She said swinging back to help Cat Negro.

But just as she was about to land behind the spider woman, she found herself caught in a web.

"And there she is." The spider woman laughed hanging upside down in front of her. "You really think I believed she was the real deal? Hello, I'm a spider, I know how to lure my prey."

"What do you want?" Ladybug snapped trying to get free. "Where's Cat Negro?"

"Oh believe me, he'll be joining us shortly, but not before this." she said pointing to what looked like a giant bug, but as Ladybug got a closer look, it was a camera bug. And from what she could tell, it was on and broadcasting. "Good evening everybody. This is the web master Webi-Abbey bringing you the biggest news story this side of the Big Apple. Now we have all wondered it is that is really behind the Ladybug mask, well tonight, we are about to find out who our mysterious heroine really is." she said turning to her reaching for her mask.

'Abbey!' Ladybug gasped in her mind. Her best friend's girlfriend had been akumtized!

She pulled at it, but it was not coming off. "Why won't this come off?" she grunted.

"Uh, because it's magic." Ladybug smirked at her.

"Doesn't matter, there are others to, oh how shall I put this, skin a cat." Webi-Abbey sneered at her. Snapping her fingers, several webs collapsed to reveal Cat Negro trapped in a web cocoon. With a slash of one of her legs, the cocoon dropped into the river.

"No!" Ladybug cried out.

"Oh I'd hurry if I were you." Webi-Abbey sneered at her releasing her from the web that held her and then disappearing onto the roof tops a good ways off.

Without thinking twice, Ladybug summoned her Lucky Charm and what came to her was rubber raft. Quickly releasing what it had to be for, she released the valve and it inflated, she jumped into the river with the cord around her wrist and swam to find her partner. Whether it really was luck or some unseen power guiding her, she found Cat Negro and was able to break off what was left of the dissolving web cocoon and pull him up to the raft.

"Are you alright Cat Negro?" she gasped as she helped him up onto the raft. Presently her earrings started to beep.

"You used your Lucky Charm, there's not much time left." Cat Negro said helping her up.

"Then we'd better catch Webi-Abbey before she causes any more trouble." Ladybug said as they made their way to the river bank.

Finally on dry ground, Ladybug and Cat Negro found Webi-Abbey not far from where he had left them. Ladybug got a good look at Webi-Abbey and saw a webcam around his neck.

"Cat Negro, that webcam, that's gotta be where the akuma is." Ladybug said getting Cat Negro's attention.

"Good eye mi senora." Cat Negro said pulling out his rod.

"Cat Negro wait, if she gets her powers from her webcam,"

"If we take out the wifi signal, that'll bring her down. Buen pensamiento mi senora." Cat Negro said catching up with her thinking.

"I'll keep Webi-Abbey busy while you go take out the wifi signal." Ladybug said pulling out her yo-yo. "Good luck."

"Gracias." Cat Negro said slipping away.

"Don't think you're gonna get away with it." Webi-Abbey said launching more webs to cut Cat Negro off from the antenna. "I'm not gonna let you both cut me off so easily."

"To bad you don't know how to multitask." Ladybug said wrapping her yo-yo around his arms.

"Multitask this." Webi-Abbey said sending a lash of webbing to swat Ladybug aside.

Losing her grip, Ladybug fell. "No! Ladybug!" She heard Cat Negro call to her. She saw him launching down toward her.

"Grab onto me!" she cried back throwing her yo-yo to him.

Grabbing it, Cat Negro was able to stop their fall with his rod between two fire escapes. Ladybug pulled herself up.

"You saved me, I save you." Cat Negro said holding helping her keep her balance. "That's how we work."

Ladybug heard her earrings beep again. "We've got to hurry, I only have three minutes left."

"Lo tengo." Cat Negro acknowledged. "Keep trying for Webi-Abbey, I'll take out the wifi."

Pulling themselves up back onto the roof, Webi-Abbey was on the web again. "Don't change you page just yet because Ladybug's about to drop the bomb on her real indentity."

"I don't think so." Cat Negro said at the base of the antenna. "Cataclysm!" he summoned swatting his hand against the tall wifi antenna.

"No!" Webi-Abbey cried out as she lost the web signal.

"I'll take that." Ladybug said grabbing the webcam from her neck as she fell from her webs. Crushing the camera under her foot, she opened her yo-yo for the capture. "No more terrorizing for you moth. Time to be purified!" she called capturing it. "Be free little butterfly." She said releasing a white butterfly. "Miraculous Ladybug!" she summoned with her used Lucky Charm as everything was put back to normal.

"Olé!" she and Cat Negro congratulated each other with a high five.

"Oh my gosh! Ladybug and Cat Negro!" The de-akumatized Abbey gasped seeing them. "Oh I have to totally get an interview from you guys. Just let me grab my camera."

Ladybug's earrings beeped again. "We've gotta go, you've only got a minute." Cat Negro warned.

Ladybug and Cat Negro disappeared down the stairs of the building to the ground floor. Ladybug found a closet and was ready to shut the door when Cat Negro stopped her.

"Stay, por favor." Cat Negro said holding the door. "I won't tell anyone who you really are, lo juro cat's honor."

"No one must ever know who we really are," Ladybug said almost regretting saying it. "Not even us."

As much as she trusted Cat Negro, there was just too much risk in letting him know who she really was. She disappeared behind the door she thought she had shut just as her transformation wore off. It was after she changed back she saw the door was partially open. Her heart pounded for moment as she saw it barely move, knowing Cat Negro was on the other side. In that tiny movement, she sensed he was debating with himself if he should. But then, the door shut completely and she heard his footsteps disappear out the building. Both her and Tikki heaved a sigh of releave.

"That was too close for comfort." Tikki sighed.

"Tell me about it." Angela said placing Tikki back into her pj shirt pocket.

Angela poked her head out the door and saw a lost and found box by the door. Borrowing a coat and a pair of boots from inside, she headed out the door and caught a taxi for home. When they made it back, Angela slumped in bed as Tikki flopped on the pillow next to her.

The next day after courses, Angela could feel her heart racing as she caught a taxi for Miguel's.

"I can't believe I'm actually going to sing with the love of my life." Angela sighed in the back seat.

"Just don't forget to breathe Angela." Tikki giggled.

Angela was still in a daydreaming daze when they pulled up and she dragged her jelly legs to the front door. With weak arms she knocked on the door and Miguel welcomed her in.

"So, should we get started?" Miguel said leading her to the basement where he said all their music gear was.

"Yeah." Was all Angela was able to say in her daze. "So what are we going to sing?" she asked shaking herself awake.

"This is an old classic from the 21 century. The performance is called High School Musical, and the song we're going to be auditioning with is 'What I've Been Looking For'." Miguel said handing her the music.

"Oh wow!" Angela said holding the music. "I loved High School Musical! My Mom and I used to watch it all the time when I was a kid."

"Really?" Miguel asked sounding impressed.

"Yeah, I used to sing their songs all the time."

"That's cool. If we're lucky, we'll both get a part in the show." Miguel said handing her a microphone.

"Yeah." Angela breathed as the song began.

The whole time they were singing, Angela wasn't sure how she did it, but the words just came so naturally to her as her voice hummed the music in a melody she hadn't used in a while. As the song ended, she could see Miguel was staring at her.

"Those guys were not exaggerating." Miguel said taking the mic. "You really do have an amazing voice. I wonder why I've never heard you on recording before."

"Well, to be honest, I've never been much of an 'On Stage'person. No that was my mother. She was the musical star in the family. I've never really had the stomach to go on stage in front of so many people." Angela confessed fiddling with one of her curls.

"Well I think you would be amazing on stage if you gave it a chance."

"You really think so?"

"I know so."

"Wow, thanks." Angela breathed. "I'd better, go. My Dad's probably wondering where I am." Angela said looking at her phone.

"Yeah, so I'll see here again tomorrow for practice?"

"Yeah sure, I'll be here." Angela said as she headed up the stairs and caught a cab home.

That evening, she sat in her room practicing the song again and again until she went to bed.

"Miguel sure is lucky to have you as his singing partner for the auditions." Tikki said laying down next to her.

"It's almost as if the universe is telling us that we were made for each other." Angela sighed as she dozed off.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Miguel finger combed his hair back and rubbed his temples. At last he was finished with his English assignment. He would have been finished sooner if Plagg hadn't kept eating him out of his father's camembert cheese and needed to go to the store to buy more. After stretching his legs, he got another look at the audition notice on his nightstand. The part he was auditioning for required for him to have a partner and after asking around the day before, he found himself wondering what kind of singer Angela had to be for everyone he asked to recommend her to him. As he wondered this, he turned to his window and saw how wonderful the weather was.

"Come on Plagg, we're going out." Miguel called grabbing his kwami.

Miguel hopped on the bus and couldn't wait to get to Central Park. When they got there, he started walking just down the path when he felt someone bump into him. He turned and his eyes met with Angela.

"Oh, I'm so sorr…ahhh!" she gasped seeing him. "Miguel! What are you doing here?" she gasped again.

"I was just out, enjoying the sun." he answered. "Nice to see you out here too. Would you like to walk with me?"

"Baah, no I mean, nay… no, that is, what I mean is, yes." Angela stammered causing Miguel to laugh at how cute she could be sometimes.

"Ok, well, shall we?" he said pointing further down the path.

"Your hair looks different." Angela commented seeing his new hair cut.

"Yeah, my Dad thought it could use a trim, and a wash." Miguel said brushing a few strands out of his face. "And to be honest, I kind of like it." Miguel said. "It's so much more tamable now and it's fluffier than it was before."

"It looks amazing." Angela breathed.

"Thanks." Miguel answered. "So hey, there was something I wanted to ask you about earlier yesterday."

"What?" Angela asked.

"The theatre club is doing a musical audition next week after courses and I was wondering if you would like to be my audition partner. I just need someone to sing with for the duet part I'm auditioning for."

"You want me to, with you, sing, audition for musical?" Angela babbled.

"Yeah, I was asking around for a singing partner and many other people say that you're a pretty amazing singer." Miguel explained.

Angela didn't say a word, though she did seem pretty thoroughly shocked hearing him ask her.

"I can understand if you don't want to."

"No, I mean, That, love to, I would do….ugh!" she said slapping herself back to attention. "Yes, I would love to do that." She said breathing that she finally got her response out.

"Great. So, do you think you could come by my place after classes tomorrow to rehearse?" Miguel asked.

"Yes, I will be there." Angela answered.

"Awesome, here's my address. I'll see you then." Miguel said walking off.

"Why didn't you just ask her out?" He heard Plagg snicker from inside his coat.

"Very funny." Miguel answered.

Miguel just enjoyed the beautiful day in the park for a while longer and headed home to get the basement set up for his rehearsal tomorrow. He would have thought that given his past experience with sound equipment it would have been easy, but that was back when he had the band. Right now, he was on his own, so it did take a bit longer than he was expecting. By the time he was done, his dad was just arriving home.

"Been busy today Miguel?" he asked seeing how tired Miguel must have looked.

"Kind of, I'm just going to go get ready for bed." Miguel said heading upstairs.

As Miguel was getting ready for bed, he heard what he thought was a girl's scream outside. He peeked out his window, and saw something that made his heart skip a beat. A spider-woman carrying what looked like Ladybug.

"We have to help her." Miguel said closing his door. "Just in case," he said putting his pillows under his covers. "There. Plagg, Claws Out!" he called transforming.

He followed the spider-woman to the Northern Manhattan bridge and watched as she strung her up high in the rafters. He was about to swoop in to save her when he saw the real Ladybug land not far away. He heaved a sigh of relief and made his way quietly to meet her.

"Who is that?" she asked herself in a whisper.

"I was going to ask you the same thing." He asked from behind her.

Startled, she turned around and saw Cat Negro standing behind her. "Oh, you scared me." She breathed.

"You scared me, when I saw that girl, I thought she was you. I'm just glad you're okay."

"That's sweet, but we still have a major problem here. Hawk Moth has obviously unleashed another akuma and for some reason, she seems to have it in for you." Ladybug explained.

"So what do we do?" Cat Negro asked.

"You go out there and keep her attention away from that girl and me. While you're keeping her busy, I can get the girl to safety."

"Sounds like a plan."

"Good luck." Ladybug said swinging her yo-yo toward the underside of the bridge.

As she made her way to rafters at the time, Cat Negro was doing his bit, but this new villain really seemed to have it in for him, she was really putting up a fight and Cat Negro knew he wasn't going to be able to hold his ground much longer. He just hoped that Ladybug would be able to work fast.

"Good, while the bug's away, the cat's will play." He heard this new akuma snicker.

"Qué?" Cat Negro asked confused.

"You really think that this was all about me getting at you? Oh no, this was just a means of getting what I needed to expose Ladybug."

Before Cat Negro could register anything in time, he found himself suddenly lifted from the ground and then covered in spider silk.

"Oh don't worry kitty cat, I'm sure you've been dying to know this too. So I'll let you watch as I uncover the truth to who Ladybug really is." Spider lady laughed.

Cat Negro tried to protest, but webs wrapped around his mouth and kept him from shouting for Ladybug to stay away. He could only watch as Ladybug returned searching for him, only to find herself caught in a web.

"And there she is." The spider woman laughed hanging upside down in front of her. "You really think I believed she was the real deal? Hello, I'm a spider, I know how to lure my prey."

"What do you want?" Ladybug snapped trying to get free. "Where's Cat Negro?"

"Oh believe me, he'll be joining us shortly, but not before this." she said pointing to what looked like a giant camera bug. "Good evening everybody. This is the web master Webi-Abbey bringing you the biggest news story this side of the Big Apple. Now we have all wondered who it is that is really behind the Ladybug mask, well tonight, we are about to find out who our mysterious heroine really is." she said turning to her reaching for her mask.

She pulled at it, but it was not coming off. "Why won't this come off?" she grunted.

"Uh, because it's magic." Ladybug smirked at her.

"Doesn't matter, there are others to, oh how shall I put this, skin a cat." Webi-Abbey sneered at her. Snapping her fingers, several webs collapsed to reveal Cat Negro trapped in a web cocoon. With a slash of one of her legs, the cocoon dropped into the river.

"No!" Ladybug cried out.

Barely even a few seconds later, he saw her diving down toward him. Whether it really was luck or some unseen power guiding her, she found Cat Negro and was able to break off what was left of the dissolving web cocoon and pull him up to a waiting raft at the surface.

"Are you alright Cat Negro?" she gasped as she helped him up onto the raft. Presently her earrings started to beep.

"You used your Lucky Charm, there's not much time left." Cat Negro said helping her up.

"Then we'd better catch Webi-Abbey before she causes any more trouble." Ladybug said as they made their way to the river bank.

Finally on dry ground, Ladybug and Cat Negro found Webi-Abbey not far from where he had left them. Ladybug got a good look at Webi-Abbey and saw a webcam around his neck.

"Cat Negro, that webcam, that's gotta be where the akuma is." Ladybug said getting Cat Negro's attention.

"Good eye mi senora." Cat Negro said pulling out his rod.

"Cat Negro wait, if she gets her powers from her webcam,"

"If we take out the wifi signal, that'll bring her down. Buen pensamiento mi senora." Cat Negro said catching up with her thinking.

"I'll keep Webi-Abbey busy while you go take out the wifi signal." Ladybug said pulling out her yo-yo. "Good luck."

"Gracias." Cat Negro said slipping away.

"Don't think you're gonna get away with it." Webi-Abbey said launching more webs to cut Cat Negro off from the antenna. "I'm not gonna let you both cut me off so easily."

"Too bad you don't know how to multitask." Ladybug said wrapping her yo-yo around her arms.

"Multitask this." Webi-Abbey said sending a lash of webbing to swat Ladybug aside.

Losing her grip, Ladybug fell. "No! Ladybug!" Cat Negro called out to her. He launched down toward her.

"Grab onto me!" she cried back throwing her yo-yo to him.

Grabbing it, Cat Negro was able to stop their fall with his rod between two fire escapes. Ladybug pulled herself up.

"You saved me, I save you." Cat Negro said holding her close helping her keep her balance. "That's how we work."

Her earrings beeped again. "We've got to hurry, I only have three minutes left."

"Lo tengo." Cat Negro acknowledged. "Keep trying for Webi-Abbey, I'll take out the wifi."

Pulling themselves up back onto the roof, Webi-Abbey was on the web again. "Don't change you page just yet because Ladybug's about to drop the bomb on her real indentity."

"I don't think so." Cat Negro said at the base of the antenna. "Cataclysm!" he summoned swatting his hand against the tall wifi antenna.

"No!" Webi-Abbey cried out as she lost the web signal.

"I'll take that." Ladybug said grabbing the webcam from her neck as she fell from her webs. Crushing the camera under her foot, she opened her yo-yo for the capture. "No more terrorizing for you moth. Time to be purified!" she called capturing it. "Be free little butterfly." She said releasing a white butterfly. "Miraculous Ladybug!" she summoned with her used Lucky Charm as everything was put back to normal.

"Olé!" she and Cat Negro congratulated each other with a high five.

"Oh my gosh! Ladybug and Cat Negro!" The de-akumatized Abbey gasped seeing them. "Oh I have to totally get an interview from you guys. Just let me grab my camera."

Ladybug's earrings beeped again. "We've gotta go, you've only got a minute." Cat Negro warned.

Ladybug and Cat Negro disappeared down the stairs of the building to the ground floor. Ladybug found a closet and was ready to shut the door when Cat Negro stopped her.

"Stay, por favor." Cat Negro said holding the door. "I won't tell anyone who you really are, lo juro cat's honor."

"No one must ever know who we really are," Ladybug said. "Not even us."

She then disappeared behind the door which did not close all the way. The flash of light said she had changed, he could have easily opened the door and seen who his true love really was, and he had come seriously close to it. He had his hand on the door handle and was about to open it but something in the back of his mind told him that this was wrong. She was trusting him not to look, to keep her identity a secret. He had heard how reluctant she had sounded not wanting to tell him, but he knew that she was right. As much as he wanted to know who she really was, it was better that no one, not even him knew who Ladybug really was. He closed the door all the way and raced out the front door and out to an alley to detransform himself.

"That was the chance to find out who the love of your life really is, what were you thinking?" Plagg asked him.

"That's just it Plagg, I wasn't. I was following my heart." Miguel answered letting Plagg hide in his shirt.

Miguel grabbed a taxi and headed back for home, sneaking in through his bedroom window and going to sleep.

The next day, after classes were done and he safely made it home, Miguel got some last minute things in place while waiting for Angela. Finally he heard her knock on the door.

"So, should we get started?" Miguel said welcoming her in and leading her to the basement

"Yeah. So, what are we going to sing?" she asked.

"This is an old classic from the 21 century. The performance is called High School Musical, and the song we're going to be auditioning with is 'What I've Been Looking For'." Miguel said handing her the music.

"Oh wow!" Angela said holding the music. "I loved High School Musical! My Mom and I used to watch it all the time when I was a kid."

"Really?" Miguel asked feeling impressed.

"Yeah, I used to sing their songs all the time."

"That's cool. If we're lucky, we'll both get a part in the show." Miguel said handing her a microphone.

"Yeah." Angela breathed as the song began.

The whole time they were singing, Miguel wasn't sure what to think, but the words just came so naturally to her as her voice hummed the music in a melody he wasn't sure he had ever heard before. It was beautiful. As the song ended, she could see Miguel was staring at her.

"Those guys were not exaggerating." Miguel said taking the mic. "You really do have an amazing voice. I wonder why I've never heard you on recording before."

"Well, to be honest, I've never been much of an 'On Stage' person. No, that was my mother. She was the musical star in the family. I've never really had the stomach to go on stage in front of so many people." Angela confessed fiddling with one of her curls.

"Well I think you would be amazing on stage if you gave it a chance."

"You really think so?"

"I know so."

"Wow, thanks." Angela breathed. "I'd better, go. My Dad's probably wondering where I am." Angela said looking at her phone.

"Yeah, so I'll see here again tomorrow for practice?"

"Yeah sure, I'll be here." Angela said as she headed up the stairs and caught a cab home.

"What was with all the goo-goo eyes? You find another girlfriend?" Plagg teased.

"No, I told you, she's just a friend." Miguel said clearing up.

But if Miguel was being honest, Angela did seem like a really nice girl, but someone like her had to have been already spoken for. She was pretty, and she had an amazing voice. Any guy would have to be nuts to say no to her. That's what Miguel thought.

That night, as Miguel was clearing up after dinner, he thought about how much fun it would be if both he and Angela got parts in the play. It would certainly help Angela get over her stage fright. Maybe that's all she needed was that little push.

After dinner was cleared, Miguel spent the rest of the evening in his room practicing the song for practice the next day. As he went to bed, he caught himself wondering what Angela must really think of him, maybe she did like him. But he had to remember he had a lady, she just didn't know it.

"Until next time mi senora." He smiled falling asleep.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Angela sat by the hospital bed holding Ms. Roland's hand in hers. It had only been a few hours since Angela found Ms. Roland at her house at the bottom of the stairs. But even with all that time that had passed, she could still feel her heart beating out of control. Her tears burned hot against her cheeks. She wasn't sure how long she had been there, but when the door opened, she saw Derek and Abbey walk in.

"Hey girl, you doing okay?" Abbey said taking a seat next to her.

"I'm fine, it's Ms. Roland I'm worried about." Angela replied not taking her eyes off her elderly friend. "How did you guys even know I was here?"

"Well, we went by your place to see you, but Brock said you weren't there. Told us that you had gone over to see Ms. Roland." Abbey answered.

"So we thought we would come pay you both a visit, but when we saw the ambulances pull out we tried to follow you gals here. But dude, traffic was just messed up. Took us forever to get through." Derek continued.

"We just wanted to make sure that you were okay." Abbey finished.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I did go to see her, but when I got there, her door was open and I found her at the bottom of the stairs. I don't know what happened, I just called 911 and came with her here to the hospital." Angela explained finally looking up at her friends. "The doctor said it was a good thing I found her when I did. What ever happened, several of her ribs had been broken and her colon had been knocked loose. The doctors aren't sure she'll make it through the night." Angela explained feeling her eyes over flow with tears again. "I just can't leave her, I don't care if my Dad gets mad about it, I'm staying here with Ms. Roland tonight. I can take the heat from him later."

"That's my girl. Don't let your old man control you." Derek said giving Angela's shoulder a shrug.

"Angela, you know that we're here for you at anytime if you need us." Abbey said rubbing Angela's back.

"I know." Angela answered brushing a strand of silver hair out of Ms. Roland's face. "You know she and my mother were really close friends before my mom died. Mom would go by to see her everyday. I wish I could do that for her that often, but I still see her as often as I can."

"She seems like she would be a good friend to anyone." Abbey said looking at Ms. Roland's peaceful expression.

"Yeah she does." Derek answered.

Out of nowhere, Angela's phone started to buzz. She looked and saw the caller id. "Oh crude, it's Miguel! I completely forgot I was supposed to meet him up at the school today for final rehearsals!" she cried out. "What am I going to say to him?"

"Just tell him you're visiting a friend in the hospital." Abbey said pushing the answer button.

Angela didn't have time to panic as she heard Miguel ask her where she was. "I'm so sorry, I'm at the hospital I just, oh I forgot about rehearsals. I'm so sorry Miguel." Angela confessed.

"Are you okay?" Miguel asked sounding concerned.

"Yeah, I'm fine. It's my mom's friend, Ms. Roland. She fell down the stairs in her house and I went with her to the hospital when paramedics came to get her." Angela explained. "I swear I did not mean to stand you up. I'm so sorry."

"Angela, stop apologizing, it's okay. I understand. Look, I still have rehearsals going on now, but I'll be over there as soon as I can." Miguel answered her.

"No, it's okay. I just want to spend time with her for now. The doctors don't think she'll make it through the night." Angela turned down.

"Okay, well if you ever need me, I'm right here." Miguel answered before hanging up.

"Thanks." Angela answered hanging up.

Angela turned her eyes back to Ms. Roland as she took her hand again. "I'm right her with you, Ms. Roland, and I'm not going anywhere. I promise." Angela said rubbing the wrinkled hand with her thumb.

As if in response, she felt Ms. Roland's hand squeeze weakly around hers. Angela anxiously looked at her as she saw Ms. Roland weakly open her eyes.

"You really are just like your mother." She said before taking a deep breath and then letting it go.

"Ms. Roland? Ms. Roland?" Angela pressed.

All at once, the heart monitor started to flat line. "No! No! Ms. Roland, please wake up!" she cried as Derek called the doctors in and Abbey pulled her out of the way. "Please do something!" Angela pleaded.

Angela watched as the doctors rushed to resuscitate Ms. Roland, but after a few tries with the defibrillator, they had to call it.

"Time of death 5:47." The head doctor said looking at the clock. "I'm sorry."

"No, no!" Angela cried. "Not her, please not her!" Angela continued to cry as Derek and Abbey pulled her out of the room.

As they sat in the guest room, Abbey rubbed Angela's back as Derek got a hold of her phone and called Brock letting him know that Angela was going to be riding home with them. Angela didn't know what to think anymore. Ms. Roland was gone, her closest connection to her mother and one of the dearest friends she had ever had. After crying for what seemed like a couple of hours, Derek and Abbey finally asked her if she would like them to drive her home. Angela, not really registering anything anymore, barely nodded as Abbey led her outside and into their car in the parking lot.

Angela didn't say a word the entire drive home, and she barely even noticed when Brock came out of her house and escorted her inside to her room.

"Can I get you anything ma'am?" he asked as she sat down in front of her vanity.

Angela just shook her head. All at once, her tears came falling down again and she laid her head down in her arms on her vanity. She heard Brock leave and shut the door. Not long after Brock was gone, she felt Tikki brush her hand. Angela looked up at her kwami and opened her hand as Tikki landed in her palm.

"I'm so sorry Angela. I know how much Ms. Roland meant to you." Tikki said looking up at Angela.

"It's not your fault Tikki. It's no one's fault. Everyone did everything they could." Angela answered slowly rubbing Tikki's head. "I just can't believe she's really gone. All my life Ms. Roland had been like a grandmother to me and now, I just, I don't know…" Angela said breaking down again.

Angela cried a while longer before feeling very tired. She just dragged herself into her night clothes and again cried herself to sleep. As she dozed off, she could almost swear she felt Ms. Roland brush her cheek and whisper good night to her.

The next day, Angela woke up and saw Tikki sleeping on her pillow. Angela got up and got ready for the day, but all her thoughts were on Ms. Roland and how she wasn't going to be around for her to talk to anymore, or how she would never be able to do her house for her again. The only consolation Angela got out of this was that Ms. Roland was with her husband and her mother again. Angela wondered if her and Ms. Roland were watching her right now, and if they knew that she was really Ladybug. If they did, she wondered if they would be proud of her for doing what she was doing. As she got on the bus for school, she felt Tikki poke her head out and brush one of her fingers.

"It's going to be okay Angela, you'll see." She whispered.

Angela weakly smiled at her kwami and rubbed her finger against Tikki's head. "What would I do without you Tikki?" Angela replied.

When the bus pulled into the college parking lot, Angela got off and was heading for the school building when she heard Miguel call for her. She turned around and saw Miguel coming from behind her.

"Hey, you doing alright?" he asked with his voice heavy with concern.

"Not really." Angela answered still feeling her heart acting so heavy. "Why?"

"Well, Derek and Abbey told about what happened last night and I thought you could really use a friend." Miguel said hugging her.

Angela normally would have felt extremely flustered by this, but right now, all she could do was return the gesture and her tears started up again. She cried into his shoulder as she felt him rub his hand on hers.

"Why? Why did she have to go like this?" she sobbed. "She was a very healthy woman for her age, so why? Why did it have to happen like this?"

"Life can be cruel to us that way. But hey, look, she's in a better place now and think about all the family that has been waiting for her in heaven that she can be with now." Miguel answered looking her in the eye.

"Yeah, you're right." Angela said wiping a tear from her cheek.

Miguel handed her a hankie and led her to first period. When Angela sat down, she was about to pull her textbook out when Jezebel came by and slammed her hand down on her desk startling her.

"Just what are you playing at?" Jezebel demanded.

"What are talking about?" Angela demanded.

"I think you know good and well what I'm talking about. You acting all sad and upset just so you can have Miguel act as your shoulder to cry on." Jezebel jabbed.

"I'm not acting and it's none of your business." Angela retorted.

"I think it is, Miguel is mine and I won't let you steal him from me with your pathetic little antics."

"Jezebel, that's enough!" Mr. Crone demanded.

"If you know what's good for you, you'll stay away from him got it?" Jezebel warned her. "Unless you'd prefer that I tell everyone what it is that your daddy does for his job." Jezbel threatened.

"Jezebel!" Mr. Crone warned.

"Jezebel, I think you and I need to talk outside." Angela said taking Jezebel by the arm and marching them out the door. "Look, I don't know how you found out what my dad does, but it's not your place to threaten me with that just because Miguel is trying to be a good friend. But since you want to play like that, let me tell something, if you think someone like you deserves someone as kind and considerate as Miguel, then you better think again. And do you know why? Because there is not a kind bone in your body, all you think about is yourself and you have no regard for who it is you hurt as long as you get what you want. Well I have some news for you, the world does not revolve around you and if you don't change your attitude towards other people, you are going to be alone and miserable for the rest of your life unless you learn how to treat others the way you would want to be treated." Angela said feeling hot tears of rage and embarrassment burn her eyes. "Now you can put yourself on as high a pedestal as you want but I am not going to let you threaten me with facts about my family that you have no business knowing or even sharing or talking down on my family just because you think your so much better than everyone else." Angela ranted at her rival as she swung open the door and went back to her seat.

Angela took Miguel's hankie and wiped the tears from her eyes. As class went on, Angela could feel the heat of Jezebel glaring at her, but she was too upset about Ms. Roland passing and Jezebel embarrassing her in front of everyone to care. When class was over, Miguel met her outside.

"Hey, I'm sorry about Jezebel. She's just…"

"Completely nuts and self-absorbed?" Angela finished.

"Yeah. I know people think that she and I are a thing but…"

"It's okay, no one thinks that. Anyone around here knows that a guy would have to be extremely desperate to be dating Jezebel." Angela joked. "Look, I'm sorry I missed rehearsals yesterday, I promise I'll be there today after school"

"It's okay, I know things must be really hard for you right now. But you're not alone, you've got some good friends here for you."

"Thanks." Angela said feeling her usual blush returning. "Guess I'll meet you at the theatre hall after school?"

"See you there Gabriella." Miguel joked waving good-bye as he turned to leave.

"Bye." Angela laughed.

The rest of her classes that day past by without many more problems. Though she was still pretty out of it throughout the day, but she was able to pull herself together as she approached the theatre hall for their final dress rehearsal. As she got into costume, she found herself thinking about what Ms. Roland had told her about getting over stage fright when she told her that she was going to be in the performance.

'Just breathe and let all your fears flow out with each breath.' She thought as she pulled her first costume on.

Just as she was about to walk out the door, she looked back at her purse and went back. As she opened it, Tikki looked up at her.

"Did you forget something?" she asked as Angela reached in.

"No, I just need to grab something." Angela said pulling out a string of colorful beads.

"I still want to know what that is." Tikki said as Angela put it in her pocket and headed for the door.

"I'll tell you after rehearsals, I promise." Angela said shutting the door. Stopping for a moment, she opened the door and opened her jacket let Tikki come with her. She felt so much better now.

When she finally made it out on to the stage, Miguel was waiting for her to start the first song.

"You'll do great." He whispered to her as the music started.

"Thanks Miguel." Angela giggled lightly feeling her usual self returning.

The dress rehearsals went by so fast and Angela felt that she and Miguel were doing so good as Troy and Gabriella. After rehearsals were done, Angela was just about to leave when Miguel asked if he could walk out with her. Angela accepted and they walked out the school building together.

"I still can't believe that you can sing so good and you have never been on stage before. How do you do it?" Miguel asked as they waited at the bus stop.

"Well, if you want to know, I have a secret." Angela said pulling out the string of beads. "This is why I can sing."

"Are messing with me?" Miguel teased.

"No, this is my good luck charm. I carry it with me all the time, it's how I'm able to sing without getting so nervous."

"Where did you get it? Did you make it when you were a kid?"

"No, my little sister did." Angela answered.

"I didn't know you had a sister."

"I don't anymore. I lost her the same day I lost my mom." Angela answered.

"I'm so sorry."

"It's okay. You know for the longest time I blamed myself because I wasn't with them when they died, but Ms. Roland was the one who helped me get through it." Angela answered remembering how much Ms. Roland had done for her during that hard time. "She said that every child that dies goes straight to heaven to be with Jesus Christ. For the longest time, she taught me about being a Christian and sometimes I would even go to church with her if I could past my dad. She was the one who helped me find peace through God. And now she's in heaven with that God who gave her so much peace and comfort through all her pains and trials."

"She sounds like she was wonderful friend." Miguel said putting his hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah she was." Angela answered.

"So, when did your little sister give you that bead chain?" Miguel asked looking at the beads again.

"Well you see my sister, her name was Valentina, she had gotten into my jewelry case when I was seven and had broken one of my favorite necklaces. I put up a big fuss at her about it and a few minutes later she came back to me carrying this string of beads she had put together for me. She said she was so sorry for breaking my necklace. I felt so bad about how I treated her, it wasn't like the necklace she had broken but I liked this one even more than that because she had made it from the heart as a way to make up for what she did.

"But sadly, it was the last thing she ever gave me. Three days later, my mom was bringing her to come pick me up from school but they never made it. On their way to the school, another driver wasn't paying attention and sped out of an adjacent street just a block from my school and t-boned them on the driver's side. My mom died instantly and Valentina had to be air lifted to the hospital. Doctors did everything they could and she held on but after three days, she just couldn't hold on any more and she died in the hospital.

"I've held on to this ever since because it's the last thing I have of her. Every time I have to go and do something new or something that I know is going to freak me out, I have it with me to keep her close and it helps me think of what she would want me to do if she were there with me right now." Angela said as she rubbed the beads between her fingers.

"I'm so sorry, how old was she?" Miguel asked.

"She was four, and my older brother Josh had just turned ten." Angela answered. "Sometimes I want to forget how broken my family has been since then, but I'm afraid that if I do, then I'll forget my mom and Valentina too."

"You know, where I'm from, we mourn our departed by celebrating them on a day for the dead." Miguel said smiling at her.

"Yeah, I know, my Dad is from Mexico too and we celebrate the day of the dead every year. It's the one time of the year I can actually talk about Mom and my sister to him without him shutting me down." Angela answered as the bus pulled up.

"I wish there was something I could do to help." Miguel said as she climbed on.

"You already have, thanks for listening." Angela said as she got on and the bus drove off.

When Angela got home, she went up to her room and sat down to do her homework. As she got started, Tikki was floating her desk.

"I'm sorry about your sister Angela."

"It's okay Tikki, it doesn't hurt as much to think about them anymore and now that I think about it, Ms. Roland is with them now, so it helps me feel better knowing that they're all together again. And talking about it with Miguel really did help."

"Especially since it was Miguel listening." Tikki teased.

"Stop it." Angela giggled.

"So, you think you'll be okay at the performance tomorrow?" Tikki asked.

Angela nodded and got back to her homework. After she finished her English homework, she got a text from Miguel asking her to meet him at the theatre before the performance tomorrow evening.

"He probably wants to practice our first song one more time before we have to go on." Angela said as she texted back saying she would be there. The rest of her evening, Angela practiced her lines and her songs with Tikki.

The next day all during school, Angela could feel the butterflies in her stomach getting worse as the time for her to go rehearse one more time before the performance grew closer. Finally, the time for her to meet up with Miguel arrived and she found him waiting for her back stage.

"Hey, glad you could make it." He said shaking her hand.

"Yeah, so what can I do for you?" she asked.

"I just wanted to tell you good luck and give you this." He said handing her a small metal dream-catcher on a long chain necklace.

"Wow, thanks." She said putting it around her neck.

"Yeah, dream-catchers for me have been pretty lucky and I thought maybe this would help you have good luck too."

Angela smiled as they went on stage and got into position for the first scene. As the play got started, Angela hardly noticed the crowd of people watching them, or how nervous she had been. Now all she knew was that for that instance, she was Gabriella Montez. The first few scenes of act one went along fine, but just as the final scene was about to start, everyone was called by the loud screaming coming from outside the auditorium. Suddenly, the doors flew open and someone yelled that there was a monster in the building. Immediately everyone started to panic and try to get out.

Angela managed to slip away back stage in the prop closet. "Time to transform." She said letting Tikki out of her jacket. "Tikki, Spots On!" she said transforming into Ladybug.

Ladybug then made her way into the hall, swinging up onto the rafters below the ceiling, hoping to get a glimpse of whatever was making everybody scared. While everyone was running, she heard Cat Negro land beside her.

"Good to see you already here mi senora." He grinned.

"Good to see you too." She answered. "What do you think they're running from?"

"Where is she!" they heard a loud shriek cry out through the halls as people started running faster.

Ladybug and Cat Negro turned around and saw what looked like a woman in modernized Shakspearian theatre clothes in a checkerboard pattern with a black and white mask on her face.

"Something tells me her." Cat Negro answered.

"Where is Angela Martinez!" the apparent new akuma shrieked again.

Ladybug felt her heart skip a beat, this new akuma was after her. Now she really needed to stop this new villain.

"What do you say we help her exit stage left?" Cat Negro joked.

"Couldn't have said it better myself." Ladybug answered.

As the last of the people made it out, just as the akuma was about to make it out, Ladybug caught her with her yo-yo.

"Leaving so soon? But you haven't even given us your autograph yet." Ladybug laughed pulling her back.

"You will not stop me, none can stop Theatrica." She declared. "And I will find the one who stole the role that was always meant to be mine. She wasn't fit to even be an understudy."

"We'll about that." Cat Negro declared coming from behind.

"Cat Negro, her theatre mask, that's got to be where the akuma is." Ladybug said eyeing the happy and sad faced mask on her hair dressing.

"Lo tengo mi senora." Cat Negro answered.

"Nice try." Theatrica said twisting Ladybug into Cat Negro.

Ladybug landed against Cat Negro and the two of them ended up in a tangled heap on the floor. Cat Negro managed to untangle himself from her but then he just got that flirtatious grin on his face again and Ladybug gave him a gentle shove off her.

"Look at you two, the perfect theatre couple." Theatrica said heading for the door. "Wish I could stay to see how this scene ends, but I have a wanna-be that needs to be taught her place." She said as her masks suddenly began to float around her. In a flash of light, her appearance changed to look just like Abbey.

Long black hair in two ponytail with the black glasses and her gothic outfit. The only thing that made it obvious that it was her was the masks that came to rest on her hand bag.

"Exit, Stage left." She said disappearing in the crowd.

"Well we know what she can do now." Cat Negro said helping Ladybug up.

"Yeah, but we also know that we can still her apart from anyone she may change into." She said grabbing her yo-yo. "No matter who she changes into, those masks will have to be somewhere on her disguise."

"So if we find the masks, we'll find her. Buen pensamiento mi senora." Cat Negro said following her out the door.

Ladybug and Cat Negro made their way onto the roof and scanned the crowd for anyone who was carrying the Theatrica's masks.

"Over there!" Ladybug said pointing to a man in a black suit with the masks hiding on his brief case.

Ladybug and Cat Negro landed in front of him as he tried to run away. Theatrica changed to herself and her masks did their dance again. This time when the flash appeared, Ladybug felt someone grab her and then force her arms around something. When she could see, she saw that she was somehow holding herself around the neck and Cat Negro was about to make a move for her. Ladybug knew what was happening, Theatrica was trying to confuse Cat Negro.

"Cat Negro help me." Theatrica said holding Ladybug's arms in place, acting like she was trying to get free.

"No Cat Negro, it's me, Ladybug." Ladybug tried to pleade.

"No, I'm the real Ladybug."

Cat Negro did look confused, but then he got a look in his eyes like he had a plan. He used his staff to push Ladybug back and then pulled Theatrica closer to him.

"I've got you mi senora." He purred at her.

"Thank you." Theatrica said moving to kiss him, but then Cat Negro got a hold of the masks behind her back and threw them to Ladybug, who was heaving a sigh of relief.

"How did you,"

"Ladybug would never have tried to make the first move like that." Cat Negro said with his triumphant grin. "That's my job."

Ladybug rolled her eyes and then smashed the masks on the ground, releasing the akuma. After the akuma was purified, she was able to repair all the damage Theatrica caused with her yo-yo. And Theatrica was changed back to her true self, Teresa who had pitched a royal fit when Angela was given the role of Gabriella instead of her.

"Olé!" they cheered together.

Ladybug split for the school and was relieved to see that no one was still around. When Angela mad eit outside, Derek and Abbey were searching for her.

"Girl, we were so worried about you." Derek said hugging Angela so tight she thought he was going to crush her.

"We thought something bad had happened to you." Abbey said joining in on the hug.

"No, I'm fine, really, now if I could please just breathe." Angela gasped as Derek and Abbey let her go. "I just hid in the dressing room is all. I just wanted to make sure it was safe before I came out."

Derek and Abbey then went on saying that she had better not scare them like that again and then they asked if the play was going to continue or if maybe they were going to have to do it again later. In answer to that question, Angela's phone buzzed saying she had a text message from the director. The message stated that because of 'recent events' the performance was going to have to be put off until the next week so they could get the set back in order and get more tickets in order to get everyone back to see the performance.

"Well, there you have it." Angela answered.

"You want us to take you home?" Abbey asked.

"Sure, why not." Angela said following them to Derek's car.

The whole way home, Derek and Abbey asked Angela what it was like performing with Miguel. All Angela would tell them was that she was lucky she didn't forget to breathe the whole time they were on stage. But she felt that for her was an accomplishment. When they pulled in front of her house, she thanked them for the ride home and said she would see them in class the next day. Up in her room, she slumped down on her bed and just wished she could fall asleep. Looking over at her desk, she saw that she still had homework to do.

"Just get it over with." She told herself.

"You did great today Angela." Tikki said as Angela sat down at her desk.

"Yeah but it would have been better if we had been able to finish the show." Angela said following her biology notes.

"Yeah but think about it, next week, you'll get to perform with Miguel again." Tikki teased.

"Cut it out." Angela laughed. "But you're right. I just wish Ms. Roland was here to see it." Angela said thinking about how Ms. Roland had told her the week before that she would have loved to come see her perform. "Do you think she would have liked it?" she asked turning to Tikki.

"She would have loved it Angela. Remember her funeral's tomorrow, so you'll be able to say good-bye to her properly." Tikki said with her bright smile.

"You're right Tikki. You know, she wouldn't have wanted me to be so sad about her dying." Angela said remembering how Ms. Roland never let anything get to her. "She would have wanted me to remember that death is only the beginning of a new life in eternity."

"That's good Angela, remember that and you won't miss her as much." Tikki agreed.

Angela smiled as she got back to her work. As she finished up, she saw that it getting late and Tikki had already fallen asleep on her pillow. Angela quietly got ready for bed and slipped under the covers next to Tikki. As she dozed off, she remembered how Ms. Roland once told her that when you fall asleep, there is always an angel watching over you. She wondered if the angel watching her now was Ms. Roland. That thought made it easier for her to finally fall asleep.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Miguel stood outside the theatre hall doors and looked at his watch again. Angela had said that she would meet him outside for rehearsals, but she was already 10 minutes late. Knowing her, it had to have been for something important.

"Did your date stand you up?" Plagg teased poking his head out of his jacket.

"For last time, Angela's just a friend, and no she hasn't stood me up, she's just late." Miguel said pulling out his phone. "Maybe the bus got held up or something." He said dialing her number.

It rang for a minute, but finally, she picked up but she didn't sound like she was in any mood for bad news.

"I'm so sorry, I'm at the hospital I just, oh I forgot about rehearsals. I'm so sorry Miguel." Angela confessed.

"Are you okay?" Miguel asked concerned.

"Yeah, I'm fine. It's my mom's friend, Ms. Roland. She fell down the stairs in her house and I went with her to the hospital when paramedics came to get her." Angela explained. "I swear I did not mean to stand you up. I'm so sorry."

"Angela, stop apologizing, it's okay. I understand. Look, I still have rehearsals going on now, but I'll be over there as soon as I can." Miguel answered her.

"No, it's okay. I just want to spend time with her for now. The doctors don't think she'll make it through the night." Angela turned down.

"Okay, well if you ever need me, I'm right here." Miguel answered before hanging up.

"Thanks." Angela answered hanging up.

"Well?" Plagg pushed.

"She's visiting a friend in the hospital" Miguel answered. "I don't think she's going to make it this time, we'll just have to go on without her. I'm sure she'll be here next time."

After rehearsals, Miguel grabbed the next bus home and was about to set to making dinner when his phone went off again. This time it was Abbey.

"Hola, you got Miguel." He answered.

"Miguel, it's Angela." Abbey said sounding like she was in tears.

"Is she okay?" Miguel asked.

"Yes, and no. Well, actually more no than yes." She answered sounding like she was having trouble getting her words out.

"What?"

"Well, you see, not long after you talked to Angela, Ms. Roland passed away at the hospital. Angela's pretty messed up." Abbey answered finally getting her sentence straight.

"Dios mío, I'm so sorry. Is there anything I can do to help?" Miguel asked feeling a pang of guilt that he had not been there for Angela.

"Angela's going to need a lot of help getting through this and she won't let us help her. You're the only one she won't push away. So please, can you just talk to her and help her find some peace of mind?" Abbey asked.

"Of course." Miguel answered. "Thanks for telling me." He said hanging up.

"What's going on?" Plagg asked floating out of his jacket.

"Angela's friend died today in the hospital, and she's taking it really, really hard." Miguel answered handing Plagg his camembert cheese. "Abbey has asked me to talk to her because apparently she won't let Abbey or Derek help her."

"It seems like you care an awful lot for this girl, for someone who's just a friend." Plagg teased.

"Plagg, knock it off." Miguel said turning off the stove. "Angela's sweet, but I don't think she's really into me. Besides, I already have my eyes on someone."

"I still don't understand how you can be in love with Ladybug when you don't even know who she really is."

"Love doesn't need to know Plagg." Miguel answered.

"Ugh, you keep it up with all these lovey dovey anecdotes and you're gonna make me sick."

Miguel lightly laughed as he continued to stir the rice for dinner. By the time he had everything ready, his dad had just pulled up to the house. As they ate, they talked about how they're day went on and Miguel told his dad about Angela losing her friend in the hospital.

"I think I got the call on that one. Terrible loss, Ms. Roland really was a friend to anyone who knew her." Sheriff Willis said spooning more spicy rice into his mouth. "When you see her tomorrow, give Ms. Martinez my condolences."

"I will." Miguel said finishing his plate.

After helping with the cleanup, Miguel went up to his room and practiced the final song for a while before getting ready for bed. Despite how tired he was, he was finding it hard to sleep thinking about what Angela must be going through losing someone close to her like that. But he finally dozed off and slept through the night. The next morning, as he was walking up to the main building, he saw Angela get off the bus looking tired and exhausted. Her face still stained with tears.

"Hey, you doing alright?" he asked with his voice heavy with concern.

"Not really." Angela answered. "Why?"

"Well, Derek and Abbey told about what happened last night and I thought you could really use a friend." Miguel said hugging her.

Angela returned the gesture and he could hear her start to cry again. She cried into his shoulder as he rubbed his hand on hers.

"Why? Why did she have to go like this?" she sobbed. "She was a very healthy woman for her age, so why? Why did it have to happen like this?"

"Life can be cruel to us that way. But hey, look, she's in a better place now and think about all the family that has been waiting for her in heaven that she can be with now." Miguel answered looking her in the eye.

"Yeah, you're right." Angela said wiping a tear from her cheek.

Miguel handed her his hankie and led her to their Calculous class. Miguel had just barely sat himself down when he heard Jezebel yelling at Angela.

"Just what are you playing at?" Jezebel demanded.

"What are talking about?" Angela demanded.

"I think you know good and well what I'm talking about. You acting all sad and upset just so you can have Miguel act as your shoulder to cry on." Jezebel jabbed.

"I'm not acting and it's none of your business." Angela retorted.

"I think it is, Miguel is mine and I won't let you steal him from me with your pathetic little antics."

"Jezebel, that's enough!" Mr. Crone demanded.

"If you know what's good for you, you'll stay away from him got it?" Jezebel warned her. "Unless you'd prefer that I tell everyone what it is that your daddy does for his job." Jezbel threatened.

"Jezebel!" Mr. Crone warned.

"Jezebel, I think you and I need to talk outside." Angela said taking Jezebel by the arm and marching them out the door.

When they were gone, Miguel could just feel a rush of irritation hearing Jezebel go after Angela like that out of something as unattractive as jealousy. But what also caught his attention was what Jezebel said about telling everyone about her dad. Miguel did notice that Angela didn't really talk about her dad much, and when some people did ask her about him she would just say that there wasn't much for her to talk about when it came to him.

"What was Jezebel talking about what Angela's dad does for work?" He asked leaning over to Martin.

"Well, no one really knows for sure, but there's a rumor that Angela's old man is one of the biggest drug dealers in New York." Martin whispered.

"If that's true, then why doesn't Angela just go to the police about it?" Miguel asked.

"Well if she did, she really wouldn't have anywhere else to go if her dad and her brother went to prison. And I doubt she would have the easiest time finding a job if everyone knew who her dad was. Family sometimes does give us a reputation whether or not we want it." Martin answered.

"That's true, I would know all too well about that." Miguel answered thinking about what his own father would do if it was true about Angela's dad.

Angela and Jezebel finally came back and the two of them didn't say another word the rest of class. When it was over, Miguel met Angela outside.

"Hey, I'm sorry about Jezebel. She's just…"

"Completely nuts and self-absorbed?" Angela finished.

"Yeah. I know people think that she and I are a thing but…"

"It's okay, no one thinks that. Anyone around here knows that a guy would have to be extremely desperate to be dating Jezebel." Angela joked. "Look, I'm sorry I missed rehearsals yesterday, I promise I'll be there today after school"

"It's okay, I know things must be really hard for you right now. But you're not alone, you've got some good friends here for you."

"Thanks." Angela said with her usual bright smile. "Guess I'll meet you at the theatre hall after school?"

"See you there Gabriella." Miguel joked waving good-bye as he turned to leave.

"Bye." Angela laughed.

After classes were over, Miguel headed straight for the theatre hall. When he got here, he quickly changed into his costume and met Angela on the stage.

"You'll do great." He whispered to her as the music started.

"Thanks Miguel." Angela giggled lightly.

The dress rehearsals went by so fast and Miguel thought he and Angela were doing so good as Troy and Gabriella. After rehearsals were done, Angela was just about to leave when Miguel asked if he could walk out with her. Angela accepted and they walked out the school building together.

"I still can't believe that you can sing so good and you have never been on stage before. How do you do it?" Miguel asked as they waited at the bus stop.

"Well, if you want to know, I have a secret." Angela said pulling out the string of beads. "This is why I can sing."

"Are messing with me?" Miguel teased.

"No, this is my good luck charm. I carry it with me all the time, it's how I'm able to sing without getting so nervous."

"Where did you get it? Did you make it when you were a kid?"

"No, my little sister did." Angela answered.

"I didn't know you had a sister."

"I don't anymore. I lost her the same day I lost my mom." Angela answered.

"I'm so sorry."

"It's okay. You know for the longest time I blamed myself because I wasn't with them when they died, but Ms. Roland was the one who helped me get through it." Angela answered staring at the beads in her hand. "She said that every child that dies goes straight to heaven to be with Jesus Christ. For the longest time, she taught me about being a Christian and sometimes I would even go to church with her if I could get past my dad. She was the one who helped me find peace through God. And now she's in heaven with that God who gave her so much peace and comfort through all her pains and trials."

"She sounds like she was wonderful friend." Miguel said putting his hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah she was." Angela answered.

"So, when did your little sister give you that bead chain?" Miguel asked looking at the beads again.

"Well you see my sister, her name was Valentina, she had gotten into my jewelry case when I was seven and had broken one of my favorite necklaces. I put up a big fuss at her about it and a few minutes later she came back to me carrying this string of beads she had put together for me. She said she was so sorry for breaking my necklace. I felt so bad about how I treated her, it wasn't like the necklace she had broken but I liked this one even more than that because she had made it from the heart as a way to make up for what she did.

"But sadly, it was the last thing she ever gave me. Three days later, my mom was bringing her to come pick me up from school but they never made it. On their way to the school, another driver wasn't paying attention and sped out of an adjacent street just a block from my school and t-boned them on the driver's side. My mom died instantly and Valentina had to be air lifted to the hospital. Doctors did everything they could and she held on but after three days, she just couldn't hold on any more and she died in the hospital.

"I've held on to this ever since because it's the last thing I have of her. Every time I have to go and do something new or something that I know is going to freak me out, I have it with me to keep her close and it helps me think of what she would want me to do if she were there with me right now." Angela said as she rubbed the beads between her fingers.

"I'm so sorry, how old was she?" Miguel asked.

"She was four, and my older brother Josh had just turned ten." Angela answered. "Sometimes I want to forget how broken my family has been since then, but I'm afraid that if I do, then I'll forget my mom and Valentina too."

"You know, where I'm from, we mourn our departed by celebrating them on a day for the dead." Miguel said smiling at her.

"Yeah, I know, my Dad is from Mexico too and we celebrate the day of the dead every year. It's the one time of the year I can actually talk about Mom and my sister to him without him shutting me down." Angela answered as the bus pulled up.

"I wish there was something I could do to help." Miguel said as she climbed on.

"You already have, thanks for listening." Angela said as she got on and the bus drove off.

Miguel hailed a cab home and spent a good deal of time on his calculous homework. Not because it was hard, but because he couldn't stop thinking about all the stuff that he had learned about Angela that he was sure that not even Derek or Abbey knew about. From what he heard, it sounded like Angela's life was basically constantly throwing her a rock in a hard place. Like it was just always going from bad to worse. But he had to admit she was pretty strong to keep going the way she was. Not many in her position would be able to keep going like her with their backs straight and their eyes forward. That was definitely something to admire about her. As he thought about it, she was kind of like Ladybug in the regard. He suddenly found himself wishing that she was Ladybug. But then he thought it couldn't be her, but then again, how could know for sure?

Out of an impulse he wasn't sure where it came from, he texted Angela asking to meet him back stage before the performance the next day. Maybe he would ask her, but even if she was, would she really tell him.

After finally finishing his homework, he got ready for tomorrow and crawled in bed. As he drifted off, he once again found himself wondering what if Angela was Ladybug. But as quickly as he thought about it, he pushed it away.

The next day, Miguel nervously drummed his pen against his books all through his classes wondering how he was going to approach Angela about what was bugging him. But he also wondered if it would be a good idea considering all that she was going through with the death of Ms. Roland and their performance after school. Surely she was nervous enough, so maybe it wasn't the best time for him to confront her about something when she probably would have no idea what he was talking about. Yeah, he was going to have to rethink his meeting. As he was heading for the theatre hall, he noticed the 70's crafts club were selling dream-catcher necklaces. He bought one and prepared his new approach for his meeting with Angela. As she promised, she met him just before curtain call.

"Hey, glad you could make it." He said shaking her hand.

"Yeah, so what can I do for you?" she asked.

"I just wanted to tell you good luck and give you this." He said handing her the small metal dream-catcher on a long chain necklace.

"Wow, thanks." She said putting it around her neck.

"Yeah, dream-catchers for me have been pretty lucky and I thought maybe this would help you have good luck too."

Angela smiled as they went on stage and got into position for the first scene. The first few scenes of act one went along fine, but just as the final scene was about to start, everyone was called by the loud screaming coming from outside the auditorium. Suddenly, the doors flew open and someone yelled that there was a monster in the building. Immediately everyone started to panic and try to get out.

Angela managed to slip away back stage in the prop closet. Miguel chased her to get her out of the building. If this monster was another akuma, then she needed to get out, not hide. But just as he was about to open the door, he heard her talking to someone.

"Time to transform." She said. "Tikki, Spots On!" she said as flash of light enveloped her and Miguel watched in shock as she transformed into Ladybug.

Miguel hid behind the curtains on the stage and watched Ladybug then make her way into the hall.

"I can't believe it." Miguel said almost forgetting to breathe. "Angela's Ladybug."

"Well, now you know who your mask sweet heart is." Plagg said flying out of his breast pocket.

"In any case, she's gonna need our help." Miguel said holding up his ring. "Plagg! Claws Out!" he said transforming into Cat Negro and joining Ladybug up in the rafters.

"Good to see you already here mi senora." He grinned.

"Good to see you too." She answered. "What do you think they're running from?"

"Where is she!" they heard a loud shriek cry out through the halls as people started running faster.

Ladybug and Cat Negro turned around and saw what looked like a woman in modernized Shakspearian theatre clothes in a checkerboard pattern with a black and white mask on her face.

"Something tells me her." Cat Negro answered.

"Where is Angela Martinez!" the apparent new akuma shrieked again.

Cat Negro felt his heart skip a beat, this new akuma was after her. Now they really needed to stop this new villain.

"What do you say we help her exit stage left?" Cat Negro joked.

"Couldn't have said it better myself." Ladybug answered.

As the last of the people made it out, just as the akuma was about to make it out, Ladybug caught her with her yo-yo.

"Leaving so soon? But you haven't even given us your autograph yet." Ladybug laughed pulling her back.

"You will not stop me, none can stop Theatrica." She declared. "And I will find the one who stole the role that was always meant to be mine. She wasn't fit to even be an understudy."

"We'll see about that." Cat Negro declared coming from behind.

"Cat Negro, her theatre mask, that's got to be where the akuma is." Ladybug said eyeing the happy and sad faced mask on her hair dressing.

"Lo tengo mi senora." Cat Negro answered.

"Nice try." Theatrica said twisting Ladybug into Cat Negro.

Ladybug landed against Cat Negro and the two of them ended up in a tangled heap on the floor. Cat Negro managed to untangle himself from her but then he just got that flirtatious grin on his face again and Ladybug gave him a gentle shove off her.

"Look at you two, the perfect theatre couple." Theatrica said heading for the door. "Wish I could stay to see how this scene ends, but I have a wanna-be that needs to be taught her place." She said as her masks suddenly began to float around her. In a flash of light, her appearance changed to look just like Abbey.

Long black hair in two ponytail with the black glasses and her gothic outfit. The only thing that made it obvious that it was her was the masks that came to rest on her hand bag.

"Exit, Stage left." She said disappearing in the crowd.

"Well we know what she can do now." Cat Negro said helping Ladybug up.

"Yeah, but we also know that we can still her apart from anyone she may change into." She said grabbing her yo-yo. "No matter who she changes into, those masks will have to be somewhere on her disguise."

"So if we find the masks, we'll find her. Buen pensamiento mi senora." Cat Negro said following her out the door.

Ladybug and Cat Negro made their way onto the roof and scanned the crowd for anyone who was carrying the Theatrica's masks.

"Over there!" Ladybug said pointing to a man in a black suit with the masks hiding on his brief case.

Ladybug and Cat Negro landed in front of him as he tried to run away. Theatrica changed to herself and her masks did their dance again. When the flash dissipated, he saw one Ladybug had a hold on another.

"Cat Negro help me." The Ladybug being held said acting like she was trying to get free.

"No Cat Negro, it's me, Ladybug." The other Ladybug pleaded.

"No, I'm the real Ladybug."

Cat Negro was confused, how could he know for sure which was the real one. But then he got an idea and he had a plan. He used his staff to push the Ladybug who was holding the other back and then pulled other one closer to him.

"I've got you mi senora." He purred at her.

"Thank you." She said moving to kiss him, but then Cat Negro got a hold of the masks behind her back and threw them to Ladybug, who was heaving a sigh of relief.

"How did you,"

"Ladybug would never have tried to make the first move like that." Cat Negro said with his triumphant grin. "That's my job."

Ladybug rolled her eyes and then smashed the masks on the ground, releasing the akuma. After the akuma was purified, she was able to repair all the damage Theatrica caused with her yo-yo. And Theatrica was changed back to her true self, Teresa who had pitched a royal fit when Angela was given the role of Gabriella instead of her.

"Olé!" they cheered together.

Cat Negro watched as Ladybug disappeared inside the school again. He ducked behind one of the buildings across the street and de-transformed.

"So, going to tell Angela that you know she's Ladybug?" Plagg pushed as he plopped into Miguel's hands.

"No, she trusts me to keep our identities a secret, so it's best that I not tell her I know." Miguel said resting Plagg in his shirt pocket. "Besides, she has enough on her mind right now with everything else that she's going through. I don't need to freak her out even more letting her know that I know she's Ladybug."

"So you're just going to act like nothing has changed?" Plagg pushed again.

"I didn't say that. Now that I know who she is, I know who I can really ask to be mi senora." Miguel answered.

"So you're going to ask her out?"

"Si. As Cat Negro, I'm sure she won't be interested, but at least I know that she really does like me, at least part of me. So even if she pushes me away when we're Ladybug and Cat Negro, I know she'll still want to be with me as Miguel."

"Love is so weird." Plagg said disappearing into Miguel's pocket.

Later at home, after receiving the message how the play was being pushed back to the next week, Miguel spent some time rehearsing his songs and his lines. But he was still pretty shocked that he now knew who Ladybug really was. But now that he thought about it, it did make perfect sense that Angela was Ladybug. Now that he really compared the two, he could see how Angela was kind of everything that Ladybug was. She was honest, brave, sincere, smart, and she wasn't afraid to say what she was thinking. All those things he loved about Ladybug, he had loved about Angela.

The whole thing continued to rattle his mind even when he went to bed. Miguel had the hardest time falling asleep that night.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

The past two weeks almost seemed like a blur. The High School Musical play went off great the second time around, and since then, no one has stopped telling her what a beautiful singer she was. On more than one occasion Miguel had told her that he would totally get her in touch with his former manager next time he got the chance.

Today, she was walking out of class talking with Abbey about possible ideas for their biology project.

"We could test the growth rate of small bean plants using different fluids. Like tea, lemonade, and water. See which one helps the plants grow the best." Angela suggested.

"That's a pretty good one, but I think that one would be too time consuming. Remember we only have a week to get this one done." Abbey reminded Angela.

"Well, what if we…" she started to say but bumped right into Miguel dropping her books. "Oh my gosh, so am sorry I. Agh! I mean I'm so sorry." Angela stammered.

"It's cool, it was my fault I should have been watching where I was going." Miguel said helping her gather back up her books. "But I guess since I have you here, how about I make it up to you. I was thinking about checking out the zoo later today. I mean word is they have a new exhibit at the reptile house. Would you like to come with me and check it out?" Miguel asked handing Angela her books.

"Yes, to I love do would that." Angela stammered.

"Great. So meet you at the zoo around 4?" Miguel answered laughing.

"Yeah, 4." Angela agreed not entirely there.

"Great, I'll see then." Miguel said walking away.

"Earth to Angela, you do realize that the guy you're totally head over heels in love with just asked you out right?" Abbey called shaking Angela out of her haze.

"Yeah." Angela drooled. "What! No! Not here, not like this, not today! I haven't worn my lucky sweater, I'm not wearing my special perfume!" Angela panicked snapping out of it. "Help me Abbey! I can't do this alone!" she pleaded hugging her best friend's girlfriend who patted her back.

"It's okay, Abbey's gotcha." She laughed. "Look, you can do this. Just be yourself."

"Remember the last time I did that." Angela said recoiling remember the last time she tried to be herself in front of a guy.

"Oh come on it wasn't that bad." Abbey defended.

"I walked right into the guys' locker room and saw him in his under wear, in fact a lot of them in their under wear." Angela reminded her.

"Fine, just be yourself and look where you're going." Abbey said. "Now come on, we need to get you ready for your first date since Anderson."

Abbey pulled Angela to the bus for her place. The entire way there, Angela still panicked about her date with Miguel.

"Oh what if I fall into a cage or make a fool of myself trying to eat popcorn by the birdcage?" Angela chattered as the bus chugged along.

"Angela, just breathe." Abbey said making Angela look her in the eye. "Now repeat after me. I'm going to go on this date, I'm going to have a good time and it's going to be great."

Angela took a breath. "I'm going to go on this date, I'm going to have a good time and it's going to be great." Angela repeated.

"Yes you are." Abbey said pulling on the signal cord. "Now we have a lot of work to do, so let's get to it." She said as the bus pulled to a stop in front of her house.

Angela felt her heart hammer as Abbey pulled her up to her room. Abbey set her down in front of her vanity and then opened her closet.

"Alright, first thing we need to do is change that outfit. There's no way you're dressed for an afternoon at the zoo in that dress." Abbey said gesturing to Angela's long skirt Greek style dress. "Maybe some blue jeans with a nice v-neck sweater and a scarf." Abbey said pulling out a red sweater and a black and white plaid scarf.

Angela pulled herself out of her greek style dress and put on a white t-shirt under the sweater and then folding the scarf around her neck. She was about to slip her feet back into her black flats when Abbey stopped her.

"Na uh. These." Abbey said holding up a pair of high-neck low heeled black boots. "These are what you wear on a date like this."

Angela slipped the boots on. Abbey then sat back down by the vanity and then turned her around to face her.

"Now, don't move." Abbey said pulling out her make-up sets. "This is going to take a very steady hand." She said setting to work on getting Angela's face done up.

A short time later, Abbey turned Angela around to see her reflection. "Girl you would not believe how hard it was for me to make you look any better than you already do. Just a little more mascara and a slip of eye-liner with a shade of blush. Girl you are a natural beauty." Abbey said with her face by Angela's.

"You think so?" Angela asked.

"Sweet heart I think the big bang theory is real. I know you're a natural beauty." Abbey answered.

Angela looked at the clock. "Oh I have to go like now if I'm going to get there on time." Angela said seeing what time it was. "What about my clothes and yours?"

"We'll exchange back on Monday." Abbey answered shoving Angela out the door and onto the bus for the zoo.

As Angela boarded, she looked back and saw Abbey signal 'Call me' as the bus pulled out. Angela settled down in her seat and tried to calm down.

"Okay, just breathe. It's going to be great, it's going to be great." She kept telling herself.

"It's going to be okay Angela. Just follow your instincts." Tikki said poking her head out.

"Thanks Tikki. It's just, I can't believe I'm actually on a date with the love of my life. What's worrying me is if I'll even be able to talk to him without babbling like one of the baboons." Angela answered feeling her heart with her hand. "Right now my heart is beating so fast I'm sure if I don't slow it down I'm going to pass out here on this bus."

"Just do what you've been telling yourself, breathe." Tikki answered.

Angela continued to take deep breathes trying to calm down. "I can do this, I can do this." She kept saying.

Finally the bus stopped in front of the zoo and Angela could see Miguel waiting for her. She took a couple more deep breathes and stepped off the bus.

"Hola bella dama." Miguel said meeting her. "Debemos?" he asked offering her his arm.

"Sí, lo haremos." Angela answered.

"Wow, beautiful and you speak Spanish." Miguel said. "I didn't know you could."

"Yeah, my dad used to teach me and Valentina when we were kids, before we lost," Angela started. "Well, anyway, I've been able to speak Spanish ever since I was little. I just haven't had anyone to speak in Spanish to." Angela answered.

"That's awesome. What made your dad come to America?" Miguel asked.

"My Mom. She was traveling with family and she decided to hit a Mexican karaoke club while her parents and her cousins were at the spa across the street. Dad was just out with some friends and they felt in the mood for dinner and a show. By the time Mom got up Dad was getting bored. But he says that as soon as he heard Mom sing that first song, he was in love.

"Mom said it took a little convincing for her, but she said that some part of her always knew that he would be the one she would spend the rest of life with. Soon Mom had to go back to the states with her family but she and Dad kept in touch while Dad worked on getting legal to let him in the states. By the time they meet up again they were practically engaged.

Her parents didn't exactly approve of her marrying my dad. When they found out, they threatened to disown her if she didn't leave him. But Mom said if her parents couldn't see love when it was right in front of them, then maybe they didn't deserve her as a daughter. Dad's parents on the other hand couldn't have been happier. They moved to the states too to help take care them after the wedding. They certainly were a big help after Josh, me, and Valentina came along. Even more so when we lost Mom and Valentina." Angela said as they walked through the zoo toward the reptile house.

"Sounds like a real Romeo and Juliet." Miguel said with a grin. "So you haven't seen your grandparents from your mother's side?"

"No. Even after Mom reached out to them to tell about me and my siblings, they never even reached back. I don't even know what they look like." Angela answered.

"And your Dad's parents, what about them? How are they doing?"

"Well, they were great a couple of years ago." Angela answered looking down. "My grandfather passed away about three years ago and then my grandmother died not long after."

"I'm so sorry."

"Don't be, I still have Dad and Josh and then there's Brock."

"Who's Brock?"

"He was a friend of my Mom's growing up. He works for my Dad now, security around my Dad's place mostly."

"Wow."

"I know." Angela answered. "But enough about me, what about your parents? How'd they meet?"

"Well, Mom illegally crossed over from here from Mexico and was running from the law. Dad met her at bar where the tender was giving her a hard time just because of her race and Dad stepped in, pulled some legal correction out on the punk and then things just seemed to click from there. Not long after meeting, Mom found out she was pregnant with me and Dad promised to marry her. Until he found out she was here illegally and had no choice but to send her back. But things never really changed between them. They still keep in touch, it's kind of the reason I came here. Just to spend time with and get to know my Dad." Miguel explained.

"That's just amazing. You know most guys who go through what your Dad did would have just left and let the woman fend for herself."

"Yeah well, if there's one thing my Dad's all about, it's responsibility."

"That's something to admire in a man." Angela said eyeing Miguel.

As they entered the reptile house, things got a little darker. Lights dimmed, and then the ambiance sounding like a jungle.

"I think the new python exhibit is right over here." Miguel said guiding Angela deeper in.

As they approached the new python, a Burmese python, they heard something that did not sound all too pleasant.

"Look kid, you have no idea what you would be up against if you were wrestling with Bertha here." The zookeeper inside the cage yelled through the glass.

"Oh yeah, well how about Bertha and I go right now. Beat your snake would tap out before we even got started." They heard one of the on lookers tease.

"Some people just have no idea how much they underestimate what snakes and lizards are capable of." Angela said shaking her head.

"No kidding." Miguel agreed. "What do you say we come back later when this guy leaves them alone. We can go check out some of the other exhibits."

"Sounds great." Angela

She allowed Miguel to lead her out and they went about the zoo visiting all other exhibits that seemed to catch both their attention. They were heading back for the reptile house when they heard the kid from earlier yelling and come running past them.

"He's coming!" he screamed shoving Angela out of the way.

"Hey, that is no way to treat a lady!" Miguel yelled after him.

"What was he yelling about?" Angela asked righting herself.

Suddenly everyone was running out of the reptile house screaming at the top of their lungs. As they avoided the crowd, they caught a glimpse of what they were running from. A large snake slithering it's way out of the reptile house.

"One of the snakes must have gotten loose." Miguel said pulling Angela along. "Come on, we need to get out of here." He said leading her to the bathrooms. "You hide here in the girls' room, I'll be in the guys' room. Listen to all the commotion outside, when it's quiet, it means it's safe." He instructed her.

Angela felt her heart racing. "I can't just hide here. It's time to transform." She said letting Tikki out. "Tikki! Spots On!" she said transforming.

Swinging over the crowd, she caught sight of the snake that had gotten loose. But what caught her attention was when it cornered the teaser from earlier. But it was what happened next that told her that this was more than just a simple put the animal back in its cage.

"Come on kid, I'm ready for our match. What's a matter, lizard got your tongue?" the large python hissed.

"Well this won't be easy." Ladybug said. "Then again, when is it ever?" she leaped and landed between the kid and the new akuma. "Why don't you pick on someone your own size?"

"Or your own species?" Cat Negro said appearing out of nowhere.

"Why don't you pick your fights more wisely?" the akuma hissed.

"If you value your life, run." Ladybug told the teaser.

Said teaser dashed for it. "You won't outrun Connor-dile." He declared slithering through Ladybugs legs.

Ladybug managed to get her hands on the snake, just behind the head. "Nice grab mi senora." Cat Negro grinned. "You a snake handler in normal life?"

"I have hidden talents." Ladybug answered.

She felt something wrap around her arm. She looked and saw Connor-dile wrapping around her arms making his way up to her body. Cat Negro grabbed the rest of the body to keep him from getting that far.

Suddenly in a dark flash, the snake vanished and in his place stood a crocodile.

"Run!" Cat Negro pulled Ladybug along to outrun the giant lizard chasing them.

After a long chase, they looked back and saw that Connor-dile was no longer following them.

"Where did he go?" Ladybug said looking around and then realized Cat Negro was still holding her hand.

Giving her his usual grin, he finally let her hand go. "My guess would be after that kid." He answered.

"Which means we need to find him before Connor-dile does." Ladybug said swinging off.

"That shouldn't be too hard." Cat Negro said catching up and showing her his tracker and it was on the move.

"Buen trabajo gatito." Ladybug said scratching Cat Negro's chin.

They followed the tracker to a house a long way off from the zoo, but they soon saw that Connor-dile was quickly becoming the least of their problems. Animals from the zoo were running rampant all over the city.

"Guess we better catch this snake in the grass before our concrete jungle becomes a real jungle." Cat Negro said as they closed in on the signal. "Tracker says he took shelter not far from here."

Ladybug got another look at the location and felt her heart drop. The kid had hid in Ms. Roland's old house. The place had been empty since the open house and the funeral. How he would have gotten inside she wasn't sure, unless he broke in. But what was important was that he was safe for now.

They found the guy hiding in the living room. Scared out of his mind when they found him.

"It's okay, you're safe now." Ladybug said trying to get him to calm down. "You'll be safe here with the doors and windows locked." She said sitting him down on the fireplace. "Can I borrow this?" she asked pointing to his cap.

"Sure." They guy said handing it to her.

"Good, come on gatito." She said pulling him out the door.

"What are you planning mi senora?" Cat Negro asked as they left.

"Didn't you notice how tired he seemed after he changed? I'm thinking, transforming drains his energy. If we can trap him in a cage or something, we can tire him out and make it easier for us to find and capture his akuma."

"Buen pensamiento mi senora." Cat Negro smiled.

Ladybug and Cat Negro continued on past the suburban area and up to the new houses under construction and a bus that looked like it hadn't seen any action for a while and knew that this would have to do for a cage. They then went further up the street to a house in the last stages of construction and placed the cap by the stairs. Hiding among the scaffolding, they readied for when Connor-dile appeared. Which wasn't long. After a few minutes, a lizard slinked its way into the house and up to the cap.

Ladybug managed to grab the lizard and hold him still, though, feeling him squirm did make her skin kind of crawl. Looking closer, she saw where the akuma must have been hiding.

"Cat Negro, the necklace with the croc teeth on it, that's got to be where the akuma is."

"You hold him, I'll grab the necklace."

Suddenly, Connor-dile morphed into a large komodo dragon and chased Ladybug and Cat Negro into the abandoned bus. Ladybug and Cat Negro were able to slip back out before Connor-dile saw them leave and shut the doors preventing him from escaping.

"Not the kind of cage I would use, but it'll do for now." Ladybug said as they waited for Connor-dile to tire himself out changing.

As his changes came slower and his fighting weaker, they could see it was almost time.

"Listo?" Cat Negro asked as Connor-dile finally collapsed on the floor.

Suddenly the bus began to shake and the roof start to split. All at once it burst open and what appeared was a large dragon with massive wings and large jaws.

"No es justo!" Cat Negro exclaimed. "Since when do mythical lizards count?"

"Dragons may be myths but technically they're still retiles." Ladybug answered.

"I know of some other creatures that will soon become myths, the cat and the ladybug." Cat Negro said pulling Ladybug along with him as they ran across the roof tops trying to avoid being burned or eaten by the dragon now hot on their tails.

They took shelter in an alley behind a dumpster as the dragon passed by them over head.

Ladybug knew they needed help. "Luckycharm!" she summoned. What came to her was a table on wheels. "What am I supposed to do with this?"

"Too bad Connor-dile didn't order room service." Cat Negro joked.

"I think I have a plan. See how his eyes are on top of his head?" she said pointing to their pursuer across the street. "You get on top of him where he can't see you and while you're distracting him, I'll ground him." Ladybug explained.

"Sounds like a plan. I can be very distracting." Cat Negro answered staring into her eyes again.

Ladybug pushed him away and told him to go. She watched as Cat Negro got into position and then readied to ground the beast. As Connor-dile tried to take off with Cat Negro on his back, Ladybug got her yo-yo around his wings and legs and brought him down in the streets.

"Well that's weird we didn't need to use this. What do you think it means?" she said as she met up with her partner.

"I think it means we rock as a team." Cat Negro answered steeping closer to the dragon to grab the necklace.

Ladybug then thought of something and knew she had to stop him. "Cat Negro wait!" she yelled pulling him back by the tail just as Connor-dile was about to close his jaws around Cat Negro. "I know what to do." She said riding the table jack like a skateboard toward the beast.

"Ladybug!" she heard Cat Negro call after her, but she kept going.

"Disfrute de su comida!" Ladybug yelled as she got closer.

As Connor-dile opened his jaws, she pulled the jack up and jumped into his mouth. For a moment everything was dark but she got the jack between his jaws and pried them open. Stepping out of the beast's mouth she saw Cat Negro give a smile like he was relieved. She grabbed the necklace and broke it and out fluttered the black moth.

"No more terrorizing for you moth." She said opening her yo-yo. "Time to be purified!" she declared capturing the akuma. "Got you! Be free little butterfly." She said releasing the white butterfly. "Miraculous Ladybug!" she yelled tossing the jack repairing all the damage caused by Connor-dile and the villain was returned to his original state.

"Ole?" she said holding up her hand, but was surprised by Cat Negro's response.

"Ladybug!" he cried grabbing her in a hug. "I thought I lost you." He said holding her a little tighter.

Finally he let her go as her earrings started to beep. "I have to get out of here." She said taking off.

She raced back to the zoo and hid in the girls' room again as her transformation wore off. Angela stood in the bathroom and laid Tikki in her purse with some cookies she had brought with her.

"I was going to share them with Miguel, but right now I think you need them more than we do." She said as Tikki started to eat.

"Thanks Angela." Tikki said as Angela made her way out and found Miguel waiting for her.

"Hey, I'm glad you're okay." Miguel said as she came out.

"Yeah, me too." Angela answered. "I mean that I'm glad that you're okay too. Well not to say that I'm not glad that I am okay, but you know, sorry, I'm such a spaz."

"It's okay, I like girls who have a lot to say." Miguel laughed. "What do you say I walk you home?" Miguel said offering her his arm.

"Sounds wonderful." Angela answered accepting it. 'How could it get any better than this?' she thought as they started off.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Miguel looked around the corner of the main building's front door and saw Angela walking with Abbey.

"Now's my chance." He said to himself.

Angela was talking to Abbey as she was walking right toward him. "Well, what if we…" she started to say but bumped right into Miguel dropping her books. "Oh my gosh, so am sorry I. Agh! I mean I'm so sorry." Angela stammered.

"It's cool, it was my fault I should have been watching where I was going." Miguel said helping her gather back up her books. "But I guess since I have you here, how about I make it up to you. I was thinking about checking out the zoo later today. I mean word is they have a new exhibit at the reptile house. Would you like to come with me and check it out?" Miguel asked handing Angela her books.

"Yes, to I love do would that." Angela stammered.

"Great. So meet you at the zoo around 4?" Miguel answered laughing.

"Yeah, 4." Angela agreed looking adorably dazed.

"Great, I'll see then." Miguel said walking away.

"So you now asked the love of your life out, what do you plan to do later? Tell her that you know she's Ladybug, or that you're Cat Negro?" Plagg said poking his head from his jacket.

"No, and no." Miguel answered. "For now, I'm just taking Angela to the zoo. This has nothing to do with her and me being Ladybug and Cat Negro. I just want to show her a good time."

"You know a hundred years ago, guys asked girls out to the movies if they wanted to have a good time." Plagg teased.

"Yeah, well this is the 22nd century. Guys have found better ways to show a girl they like a good time other than just sitting in a dark room in front of a screen." Miguel answered.

Miguel started for home and washed up. Checking his watch, he raced to catch the next bus for the zoo. When he arrived, he checked his watch again and saw that Angela was meeting him in a few minutes. He stood outside the gate and watched for Angela. When she got off the bus, he saw that she seemed nervous.

"Hola bella dama." Miguel said meeting her. "Debemos?" he asked offering her his arm.

"Sí, lo haremos." Angela answered.

"Wow, beautiful and you speak Spanish." Miguel said. "I didn't know you could."

"Yeah, my dad used to teach me and Valentina when we were kids, before we lost," Angela started. "Well, anyway, I've been able to speak Spanish ever since I was little. I just haven't had anyone to speak in Spanish to." Angela answered.

"That's awesome. What made your dad come to America?" Miguel asked.

"My Mom. She was traveling with family and she decided to hit a Mexican karaoke club while her parents and her cousins were at the spa across the street. Dad was just out with some friends and they felt in the mood for dinner and a show. By the time Mom got up Dad was getting bored. But he says that as soon as he heard Mom sing that first song, he was in love.

"Mom said it took a little convincing for her, but she said that some part of her always knew that he would be the one she would spend the rest of life with. Soon Mom had to go back to the states with her family but she and Dad kept in touch while Dad worked on getting legal to let him in the states. By the time they meet up again they were practically engaged.

Her parents didn't exactly approve of her marrying my dad. When they found out, they threatened to disown her if she didn't leave him. But Mom said if her parents couldn't see love when it was right in front of them, then maybe they didn't deserve her as a daughter. Dad's parents on the other hand couldn't have been happier. They moved to the states too to help take care them after the wedding. They certainly were a big help after Josh, me, and Valentina came along. Even more so when we lost Mom and Valentina." Angela said as they walked through the zoo toward the reptile house.

"Sounds like a real Romeo and Juliet." Miguel said with a grin. "So you haven't seen your grandparents from your mother's side?"

"No. Even after Mom reached out to them to tell about me and my siblings, they never even reached back. I don't even know what they look like." Angela answered.

"And your Dad's parents, what about them? How are they doing?"

"Well, they were great a couple of years ago." Angela answered looking down. "My grandfather passed away about three years ago and then my grandmother died not long after."

"I'm so sorry."

"Don't be, I still have Dad and Josh and then there's Brock."

"Who's Brock?"

"He was a friend of my Mom's growing up. He works for my Dad now, security around my Dad's place mostly."

"Wow."

"I know." Angela answered. "But enough about me, what about your parents? How'd they meet?"

"Well, Mom illegally crossed over here from Mexico and was running from the law. Dad met her at bar where the tender was giving her a hard time just because of her race and Dad stepped in, pulled some legal correction out on the punk and then things just seemed to click from there. Not long after meeting, Mom found out she was pregnant with me and Dad promised to marry her. Until he found out she was here illegally and had no choice but to send her back. But things never really changed between them. They still keep in touch, it's kind of the reason I came here. Just to spend time with and get to know my Dad." Miguel explained.

"That's just amazing. You know most guys who go through what your Dad did would have just left and let the woman fend for herself."

"Yeah well, if there's one thing my Dad's all about, it's responsibility."

"That's something to admire in a man." Angela said eyeing Miguel.

As they entered the reptile house, things got a little darker. Lights dimmed, and then the ambiance sounding like a jungle.

"I think the new python exhibit is right over here." Miguel said guiding Angela deeper in.

As they approached the new python, a Burmese python, they heard something that did not sound all too pleasant.

"Look kid, you have no idea what you would be up against if you were wrestling with Bertha here." The zookeeper inside the cage yelled through the glass.

"Oh yeah, well how about Bertha and I go right now. Bet your snake would tap out before we even got started." They heard one of the on lookers tease.

"Some people just have no idea how much they underestimate what snakes and lizards are capable of." Angela said shaking her head.

"No kidding." Miguel agreed. "What do you say we come back later when this guy leaves them alone. We can go check out some of the other exhibits."

"Sounds great." Angela

She allowed Miguel to lead her out and they went about the zoo visiting all other exhibits that seemed to catch both their attention. They were heading back for the reptile house when they heard the kid from earlier yelling and come running past them.

"He's coming!" he screamed shoving Angela out of the way.

"Hey, that is no way to treat a lady!" Miguel yelled after him.

"What was he yelling about?" Angela asked righting herself.

Suddenly everyone was running out of the reptile house screaming at the top of their lungs. As they avoided the crowd, they caught a glimpse of what they were running from. A large snake slithering it's way out of the reptile house.

"One of the snakes must have gotten loose." Miguel said pulling Angela along. "Come on, we need to get out of here." He said leading her to the bathrooms. "You hide here in the girls' room, I'll be in the guys' room. Listen to all the commotion outside, when it's quiet, it means it's safe." He instructed her.

Miguel locked himself in and let Plagg out. "We got to transform. Plagg! Claws Out!"

Once he transformed, he peeked in the girl's room and saw that Angela was already gone. Leaping and vaulting over the crowd, he caught sight of Ladybug and the snake that had gotten loose. But what caught his attention was when it cornered the teaser from earlier. But it was what happened next that told him that this was more than just a simple put the animal back in its cage.

"Come on kid, I'm ready for our match. What's a matter, lizard got your tongue?" the large python hissed.

"Well this won't be easy." Ladybug said. "Then again, when is it ever?" she leaped and landed between the kid and the new akuma. "Why don't you pick on someone your own size?"

"Or your own species?" Cat Negro said landing by Ladybug.

"Why don't you pick your fights more wisely?" the akuma hissed.

"If you value your life, run." Ladybug told the teaser.

Said teaser dashed for it. "You won't outrun Connor-dile." He declared slithering through Ladybugs legs.

Ladybug managed to get her hands on the snake, just behind the head. "Nice grab mi senora." Cat Negro grinned. "You a snake handler in normal life?"

"I have hidden talents." Ladybug answered.

Cat Negro smiled at her and saw the akuma wrap around her arm, making his way up to her body. Cat Negro grabbed the rest of the body to keep him from getting that far.

Suddenly in a dark flash, the snake vanished and in his place stood a crocodile.

"Run!" Cat Negro pulled Ladybug along to outrun the giant lizard chasing them.

After a long chase, they looked back and saw that Connor-dile was no longer following them.

"Where did he go?" Ladybug said looking around and then realized Cat Negro was still holding her hand.

Giving her his usual grin, he finally let her hand go. "My guess would be after that kid." He answered.

"Which means we need to find him before Connor-dile does." Ladybug said swinging off.

"That shouldn't be too hard." Cat Negro said catching up and showing her his tracker and it was on the move.

"Buen trabajo gatito." Ladybug said scratching Cat Negro's chin.

They followed the tracker to a house a long way off from the zoo, but they soon saw that Connor-dile was quickly becoming the least of their problems. Animals from the zoo were running rampant all over the city.

"Guess we better catch this snake in the grass before our concrete jungle becomes a real jungle." Cat Negro said as they closed in on the signal. "Tracker says he took shelter not far from here."

He got another look at the location and felt his heart drop. The kid had hid in Ms. Roland's old house. The place had been empty since the open house and the funeral. How he would have gotten inside he wasn't sure, unless he broke in. But what was important was that he was safe for now.

They found the guy hiding in the living room. Scared out of his mind when they found him.

"It's okay, you're safe now." Ladybug said trying to get him to calm down. "You'll be safe here with the doors and windows locked." She said sitting him down on the fireplace. "Can I borrow this?" she asked pointing to his cap.

"Sure." They guy said handing it to her.

"Good, come on gatito." She said pulling him out the door.

"What are you planning mi senora?" Cat Negro asked as they left.

"Didn't you notice how tired he seemed after he changed? I'm thinking, transforming drains his energy. If we can trap him in a cage or something, we can tire him out and make it easier for us to find and capture his akuma."

"Buen pensamiento mi senora." Cat Negro smiled.

Ladybug and Cat Negro continued on past the suburban area and up to the new houses under construction and a bus that looked like it hadn't seen any action for a while and knew that this would have to do for a cage. They then went further up the street to a house in the last stages of construction and placed the cap by the stairs. Hiding among the scaffolding, they readied for when Connor-dile appeared. Which wasn't long. After a few minutes, a lizard slinked its way into the house and up to the cap.

Ladybug managed to grab the lizard and hold him still.

"Cat Negro, the necklace with the croc teeth on it, that's got to be where the akuma is."

"You hold him, I'll grab the necklace."

Suddenly, Connor-dile morphed into a large komodo dragon and chased Ladybug and Cat Negro into the abandoned bus. Ladybug and Cat Negro were able to slip back out before Connor-dile saw them leave and shut the doors preventing him from escaping.

"Not the kind of cage I would use, but it'll do for now." Ladybug said as they waited for Connor-dile to tire himself out changing.

As his changes came slower and his fighting weaker, they could see it was almost time.

"Listo?" Cat Negro asked as Connor-dile finally collapsed on the floor.

Suddenly the bus began to shake and the roof start to split. All at once it burst open and what appeared was a large dragon with massive wings and large jaws.

"No es justo!" Cat Negro exclaimed. "Since when do mythical lizards count?"

"Dragons may be myths but technically they're still retiles." Ladybug answered.

"I know of some other creatures that will soon become myths, the cat and the ladybug." Cat Negro said pulling Ladybug along with him as they ran across the roof tops trying to avoid being burned or eaten by the dragon now hot on their tails.

They took shelter in an alley behind a dumpster as the dragon passed by them over head.

Ladybug got the look on her face, she knew they needed help. "Luckycharm!" she summoned. What came to her was a table on wheels. "What am I supposed to do with this?"

"Too bad Connor-dile didn't order room service." Cat Negro joked.

"I think I have a plan. See how his eyes are on top of his head?" she said pointing to their pursuer across the street. "You get on top of him where he can't see you and while you're distracting him, I'll ground him." Ladybug explained.

"Sounds like a plan. I can be very distracting." Cat Negro answered staring into her eyes again.

Ladybug pushed him away and told him to go. Cat Negro got into position and then readied to ground the beast. As Connor-dile tried to take off with Cat Negro on his back, Ladybug got her yo-yo around his wings and legs and brought him down in the streets.

"Well that's weird we didn't need to use this. What do you think it means?" she said as she met up with him.

"I think it means we rock as a team." Cat Negro answered steeping closer to the dragon to grab the necklace.

"Cat Negro wait!" Ladybug yelled pulling him back by the tail just as Connor-dile was about to close his jaws around him. "I know what to do." She said riding the table jack like a skateboard toward the beast.

"Ladybug!" Cat Negro called after her, but she kept going.

"Disfrute de su comida!" Ladybug yelled as she got closer.

As Connor-dile opened his jaws, she pulled the jack up and jumped into his mouth.

"NOOOO!" Cat Negro yelled seeing his true love disappear into the jaws of the dragon. He pulled out his baton. "Estás tan muerto, geko exagerado!" Cat Negro spat.

But then, Connor-dile's started to pry open, and he saw Ladybug hop out of his mouth, unharmed and looking proud of herself. Cat Negro heaved a sigh of relief. Ladybug crushed the necklace and the akuma was released.

"No more terrorizing for you moth." She said opening her yo-yo. "Time to be purified!" she declared capturing the akuma. "Got you! Be free little butterfly." She said releasing the white butterfly. "Miraculous Ladybug!" she yelled tossing the jack repairing all the damage caused by Connor-dile and the villain was returned to his original state.

"Ole?" she said holding up her hand expecting a high-five.

"Ladybug!" he cried grabbing her in a hug. "I thought I lost you." He said holding her a little tighter.

Finally he let her go as her earrings started to beep. "I have to get out of here." She said taking off.

Cat Negro raced back to the zoo and hid in the guys' room again as his transformation wore off.

"You know you're gonna have to tell her someday." Plagg said as Miguel handed him some camembert.

"I know, and I will. I'm just waiting for the right time." Miguel said as he left the bathroom and waited for Angela.

"Hey, I'm glad you're okay." Miguel said as she came out.

"Yeah, me too." Angela answered. "I mean that I'm glad that you're okay too. Well not to say that I'm not glad that I am okay, but you know, sorry, I'm such a spaz."

"It's okay, I like girls who have a lot to say." Miguel laughed. "What do you say I walk you home?" Miguel said offering her his arm.

"Sounds wonderful." Angela answered accepting it.

'How could it get any better than this?' Miguel thought to himself.


End file.
